HANDBOOK OF 

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

By WILLIAM H.BARTLETT 

REVISED BY 

HENRY CAMPBELL BLACK 




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COPHRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



HANDBOOK 

OF 

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 



BY 

WILLIAM H. BARTLETT 



REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION 

HENRY CAMPBELL BLACK 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



c 



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Copyright, 191 2, 
By Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 

Copyright, 1920, 
By Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 



- 14 1920 
)CI.A570687 



Bebtcateb to 



YOUNG AMERICANS 

ON WHOSE 

LOVE AND LOYALTY 

DEPEND THE 

PRESERVATION AND STABILITY 

OF THE 
BEST GOVERNMENT ON EARTH 



PREFACE 

The general scope and purpose of this book are in- 
dicated by the title. The aim of the writer has been to 
prepare such a work as an American father might wish 
to place in the hands of his son, or an American teacher 
in the hands of his pupils, to serve as the basis of a 
complete knowledge of the facts and principles of the 
government of the United States. 

The mission of this volume is to give in an economi- 
cal and compact form, and in clear and concise lan- 
guage, the gist of the information contained in many- 
larger works. 

The contents include a review of the nature and ori- 
gin of our government, the Declaration of Independ- 
ence with an account of the steps which led thereto, 
an explanation of the most important portions of the 
Constitution, a summary of the rights and duties of 
citizenship, the text of the Constitution, the history 
of the flag, valuable statistical tables, a series of 
"Search Light" questions calculated to arouse the in- 
terest of the reader and to stimulate him to research, 
and a list of works on government, suitable for perusal 
or reference. 

It is hoped that this book will be a boon to students, 
a valuable aid to teachers, a desirable addition to 
home, school, and public libraries, a useful guide to 



vi PREFACE 

the members of young people's societies now so ex- 
tensively organizing for the study of government, a 
friend to the foreign born in our midst who have the 
American spirit and desire a knowledge of our form of 
government, and a convenient and practical handbook 
of reference for all inquirers concerning governmental 
topics. The book is committed to the kind considera- 
tion of all these classes, in the hope that it may be 
found worthy of their favor. 

/ W. H. B. 



EDITOR'S NOTE 

The last previous edition of Mr. Bartlett's excellent 
little work appeared in 19 12. Since that time, changes 
both in the powers and in the organization of the na- 
tional government have been effected by the adoption 
of three additional amendments to the Constitution 
and by various important Acts of Congress. The scope 
of its activities has likewise been enlarged. Notable 
changes in the judicial system of the United States 
have been made. But above all, the waging and win- 
ning of the Great War have brought to the front the 
transcendent powers vested in the people's representa- 
tives by the Constitution, which remain latent and un- 
noticed in times of peace, but which may, in their ex- 
ercise, affect the lives and conduct of all the citizens 
when a democracy is mobilized for war. For these 
reasons it seemed necessary to subject the book to a 
complete revision before again offering it to the pub- 
lic. In doing this, the Editor has taken advantage 
of the opportunity to explain or discuss at greater 
length various important topics mentioned in the origi- 
nal text, and to introduce comments or explanations 
of some clauses of the Constitution, or of the practical 
working of government under it, which had not previ- 
ously been included. Thus modernized and enlarged, 
the book is commended to students in the schools and 



viii EDITOR'S NOTE 

colleges, to foreigners seeking naturalization, and to 
readers of all classes, in the confident expectation that 
they will find it most instructive and useful. 

Henry Campbell Black. 
Washington, D. C. 
March, 1920. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The National Government, Its Nature and 

Origin i 

Government Under the Constitution ... 12 

Amendments to the Constitution 91 

Appendix 

Declaration of Independence 114 

Constitution of the United States . . . 121 

Search Light Studies 147 

The Flag 155 

Books Recommended 156 

Index . . . ., 157 



HANDBOOK OF 
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 

ITS NATURE AND ORIGIN. 

i. Nation Defined. — A nation is a people living in 
a country which they hold as their own, and united 
under a government which has control over that coun- 
try and all its inhabitants. 

2. National Government. — National government 
is the power or authority by which a nation is ruled. 

3. Purpose of Government. — Civilized govern- 
ment is established to protect the people in the enjoy- 
ment of their rights and to promote the general public 
welfare and prosperity. 

4. Obligation of the Citizen. — Loyalty to his 
country is the first duty of the citizen; and this means 
that he is bound to support and respect its Constitu- 
tion, obey its laws, bear his just share of the expenses 
of the government, and render such personal service 
as is required of him, whether in civil life or in defense 
of the country under arms. 

5. Forms of National Government. — National 



a HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

governments are chiefly of three forms ; Monarchies, 
aristocracies, and democracies. 

In a monarchy the sovereign power, or right of 
government is vested in one person, called a "king'' 
or "emperor." 

A monarchy in which the power of the ruler is restricted by 
a constitution is called a constitutional or limited monarchy. An 
absolute monarchy is one in which the power of the ruler is 
not so restricted. In a constitutional monarchy (such as Great 
Britain, for instance) the king is only nominally the ruler. He 
takes no actual part in the government, which is carried on by 
the parliament, or legislative body, under the direction of a 
body of ministers who are responsible for their acts and de- 
cisions to the parliament and to the people. Such a govern- 
ment does not differ much from a democracy, and is often 
so called. 

An aristocracy is a government by a few persons 
who form a privileged class. 

An aristocracy may be one of birth, wealth, or culture. But 
no government of this kind exists today. 

A democracy is a government of the people, by the 
people, and for the people. 

Democracy is that form of government in which the sovereign 
power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free 
citizens. A pure democracy is one in which every citizen par- 
ticipates directly in the business of governing, and in which the 
body that makes the laws comprises the whole people. A 
representative democracy, or republican form of government, 
is one in which the people do not themselves make the laws, 
but elect representatives to do it for them. Equality of rights 
for all the people and equality of opportunity for all is the 
cardinal principle of democracy. 



THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 3 

6. Government of the United States.— The gov- 
ernment of the United States is a representative democ- 
racy, usually called a republic. Politically speaking, it 
is a union of forty-eight separate commonwealths 
called "States." 

This is why the United States is often called "the Union." 
A form of government in which the separate states retain the 
right to make their own laws and to govern themselves in all 
matters which are not placed in the exclusive power of the 
Union or national government is called a federal government. 
This is why the government of the United States is spoken of 
as the "federal government," and its courts as the "federal 
courts." 

7. Preservation of Republican Government. — 

Republics are preserved only by the virtue, public 
spirit, and intelligence of the people. 

8. Origin of the Nation. — The Nation was formed 
by the union, and separation from the mother-coun- 
try, of the thirteen British colonies which existed here 
at the time of the Revolution. 

A colony is a company of persons who have left their own 
country and have settled in another, but who still remain sub- 
ject to the government of the country from which they came. 

9. Original Colonies with Dates of Settle- 



ment. — 








Virginia, 


1607. 




Massachusetts, 


1620. 




New Hampshire, 


1623. 




New York, 


1623. 




Connecticut, 


1633. 




Maryland, 


1634. 



4 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 



Rhode Island, 


1636. 


Delaware, 


1638. 


North Carolina, 


1663. 


New Jersey, 


1664. 


South Carolina, 


1670. 


Pennsylvania, 


1682. 


Georgia, 


1733. 



10. Colonial Governments. — The special forms 
of government of the colonies before the Revolution 
were Provincial or Royal, Proprietary, and Charter. 

1. The Provincial or Royal governments were un- 
der the direct control of the King, who appointed for 
each a governor, and a council which formed the upper 
house of the legislature. The people elected only the 
lower house, and therefore had little voice in the gov- 
ernment. The relation of these colonies to Great Brit- 
ain was much like that of our territories to the Nation. 

2. The Proprietary governments were under the 
direct control of proprietors, to whom the land, with 
the right to govern the settlers, had been granted by 
the King. The proprietors appointed governors, and, 
in some cases, convened legislatures. But the supreme 
authority of the mother-country was strictly main- 
tained. 

3. In the Charter governments much more power 
was given to the people. They were granted char- 
ters by the King which gave them power to elect their 
own officers and to make their own laws. 

A charter is a grant made by a monarch to the whole or to a 
portion of his subjects, giving them certain rights and 
privileges. 



THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT S 

Massachusetts after 1691 was under a modified charter which 
vested the appointment of governor in the King. In this 
respect it was like a Provincial government. 

11. Colonial Governments at the Commence- 
ment of the Revolution. — Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
and Maryland were held by the heirs of the first pro- 
prietors, Connecticut and Rhode Island had kept their 
charters, Massachusetts had a modified charter, and 
the other colonies were royal provinces. 

Connecticut and Rhode Island were so content with the pro- 
visions of their charters that they lived under them until 1818 
and 1842 respectively, in which years they formed State con- 
stitutions. 

12. First Union of Colonies. — In 1643 Massa- 
chusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven 
united under the name of "The United Colonies of 
New England," for mutual protection against the en- 
croachments of the Dutch and French settlers and the 
hostility of the Indians. This union continued forty 
years. 

In the earliest years of our history there were those who 
realized that in union alone there is strength, and at various 
times during the seventeenth century plans for a general gov- 
ernment were proposed by William Penn and others. None of 
these projects, however, received the approval of the British 
government. 

13. Albany Convention. — Delegates from all the 
colonies north of the Potomac met in convention at 
Albany, N. Y., in 1754, to consider measures of de- 
fense against the French and Indians. In this con- 
vention Benjamin Franklin, whose motto was "Unite 



6 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

or die!" proposed a plan for a general government 
of all the colonies, to consist of a president-general 
to be appointed by the King, and a council of dele- 
gates to be chosen by the colonies. Though adopted 
by the Convention, as neither the colonies nor the 
mother-country approved this plan, it did not go into 
operation. 

14. Stamp Act Congress. — In 1765 a congress of 
delegates from nine colonies met at New York and 
prepared a declaration of rights, and petitions to the 
King and Parliament praying that these rights might 
be respected. This was the first general meeting of 
the colonies for the purpose of considering their rights 
and privileges. 

This Congress is called the "Stamp Act Congress," 
as the passage of that act by Parliament was the im- 
mediate cause of its assembling. 

Parliament is the law-making body of Great Britain. 

The Stamp Act required that stamps, bought of the British 
government, should be placed on all legal documents, news- 
papers, and pamphlets. The colonists, having no voice in Parlia- 
ment, were indignant at this attempt at taxation without rep- 
resentation, and so loud was the outcry against it that Parlia- 
ment soon repealed it, but still declared the right of Great 
Britain to tax the colonies, and passed other measures not less 
odious. 

15. First Continental Congress. — This Congress, 
composed of delegates from all the colonies except 
Georgia, met at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, and 
again asserted the rights claimed by the previous Con- 
gress and demanded the repeal of all laws by which 
those rights had been invaded. 



THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 7 

These remonstrances were unheeded by Great Brit- 
ain. "Repeated petitions" were "answered only by re- 
peated injury," and the colonists determined to resist 
the execution of unjust and oppressive laws. There 
was no longer hope of reconciliation, and war and 
revolution became inevitable. 

A revolution is a radical change in the government of a 
country. It involves the overthrow of an existing government 
and the establishment of one different in character. 

1 6. Second Continental Congress. — This Con- 
gress assembled at Philadelphia, May 10, 1775, all the 
colonies being represented. This body provided for 
organizing the Revolutionary army, unanimously elect- 
ing George Washington Commander-in-chief. After 
debating the question of separation from Great Brit- 
ain with great energy, eloquence, and ability, on the 
fourth day of July, 1776, this Congress adopted the 
Declaration of Independence. Thenceforth the name 
"United Colonies" gave place to that of "The United 
States of America." 

"The Declaration of Independence by the United Colonies," 
says Bancroft, "was prepared in the convictions of all the 
American people." They retained much of their old affection 
for England until the King's proclamation, August 23, 1775, 
declaring them rebels, showed that they could expect neither 
mercy nor justice from Great Britain. It then became evident 
that arms must decide the contest; and as the flames of war 
were kindling throughout the colonies, the fire of independence 
was kindled in the hearts of the people. The colonies became 
one in thought, spirit, and action, and demanded of Congress 
a declaration of independence. 

Virginia, May 15, 1776, instructed her delegates in Congress 



8 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

to propose independence, and in obedience to that instruction 
Richard Henry Lee, June 7, 1776, introduced the following 
resolution : 

"Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and, of right 
ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political 
connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and 
ought to be, totally dissolved." 

The resolution was debated in committee of the whole from 
the 7th to the 10th, when further consideration was postponed 
to July 1st. The discussion was not concerning the principle of 
independence, on which all were agreed, but concerning the 
wisdom of issuing a declaration at that time. 

On June nth a committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, 
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert 
R. Livingston, was appointed to prepare a declaration in 
harmony with the resolution. 

On June 28th this committee reported a draft of the declara- 
tion which was ordered to lie on the table. On July 1st Lee's 
resolution was again discussed, and on the following day, July 
2d, was adopted by vote of twelve States, the delegates from 
New York refraining from voting pending the decision of the 
question by the people of that colony. On July 4th the 
declaration was adopted by the same vote. 

"On the same day it was duly authenticated by the President 
and Secretary, and published to the world. The nation when it 
made choice of its great anniversary selected not the day of the 
resolution of independence when it closed the past, but that of 
the declaration of the principles on which it opened its new 
career." — Bancroft. 

The declaration, having been engrossed on parchment was 
signed by fifty-four delegates August 2, 1776, and later by two 
others, fifty-six in all representing all the colonies, the conven- 
tion of New York having approved the act July 9, 1776. 

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas 
Jefferson, a few slight verbal alterations being made at the sug- 
gestion of Adams and Franklin. A few amendments to the 
original draft were made by Congress. The Declaration of 
Independence is printed in full in the appendix to this book. 
Every American should make himself familiar with it. 



THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 9 

17. Government during the Revolution. — Each 
State had its own government. The only general gov- 
ernment was that of the Second Continental Congress, 
which exercised supreme powers until 1781, when the 
Articles of Confederation were adopted. 

18. Articles of Confederation. — These articles 
were an instrument which formed the basis of gov- 
ernment for the United States from 1781 to 1789, and 
which aimed to unite the States in a firm league to 
secure their liberties and mutual welfare. These ar- 
ticles were wrong in theory and proved worthless in 
practice. 

19. Defects of the Articles of Confederation. — 
No separate executive or judicial department was pro- 
vided. Congress had little more than the power to 
recommend measures to the States. It could not lay 
taxes, regulate commerce, enforce the provisions of 
treaties, raise revenue, nor protect the States against re- 
bellion. Congress had power "to declare everything 
but to do nothing.' ' Shays' s Rebellion in Massachu- 
setts and the fear of similar outbreaks elsewhere, 
which the general government had no power to sup- 
press, showed the weakness of the Confederation. 
Washington, Hamilton, and other leaders saw that 
"to form a new constitution which should give stabil- 
ity and dignity to the Union was the great problem of 
the times." 

20. Constitution Defined. — A constitution is an 
instrument or fundamental law which prescribes the 
form of government for a country, declares and guar- 
anties the rights and liberties of the people, and fixes 



10 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the powers and duties of the different departments of 
the government. It is the supreme law, which all must 
obey, and any law or ordinance or official act which 
it forbids or which it does not allow is null and void. 

Constitutions may be written or unwritten. England has an 
unwritten constitution, which consists of established customs, 
charters, and a multitude of laws and judicial decisions. Such 
constitutions are liable to changes by legislation establishing 
new principles of government, without the previous consent of 
the people. The wisdom of the founders of our government led 
them to form a written constitution, subject to change only by 
the deliberate action of the people. 

As applied to written constitutions, two fundamental ideas 
are implied in the term "constitution." One is the regulation of 
the form of government, the other is the securing of the 
liberties of the people. Though the former only is essential 
to the existence of a constitution, the latter has been the 
principal object of all constitutions established within the last 
century or more, so that when we speak of "constitutional 
government," it is the latter idea — the securing of popular rights 
and liberties — that is chiefly dwelt upon. 

It is important to remember that a constitution differs es- 
sentially from a statute or ordinary act of legislation. First, 
it is enacted or adopted by the whole people who are to be gov- 
erned by it, instead of being enacted by their representatives 
sitting in a congress or legislature. Second, "a constitution can 
be repealed or modified only by the power which adopted it, 
that is, the people, but a statute may be repealed or changed 
by the legislature. Third, the provisions of a constitution refer 
to the fundamental principles of government, or the establish- 
ment and guaranty of liberties, instead of being designed merely 
to regulate the conduct of individuals among themselves. In 
other words, a constitution contains the people's belief as to 
the unchanging foundations of a just and stable government, 
their wish as to the kind of government under which they will 
live, and the definition of the agencies by which they mean it 
to be executed, while a statute relates only to matters of 
expediency, or of temporary interest, and is based on conditions 



THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 11 

which may change from time to time, so that it should not be 
permanent like a constitution. 

21. Formation of the Constitution.— The Con- 
stitutional Convention, comprising delegates from all 
the States except Rhode Island, met at Philadelphia, 
May 14, 1787. Washington was chosen president. 
The Convention contained many men eminent for their 
ability and patriotism. The work before them was to 
form a complete system of republican government. 
The Convention held secret sessions for more than 
three months, discussing and settling the difficult 
questions that arose from the jealousies existing among 
the several States. On the seventeenth of September 
the Constitution was adopted by the Convention. Its 
ratification by nine States was declared to be sufficient 
for its establishment. When the Constitution was sub- 
mitted to the people for their approval before the 
assembling of State conventions to decide upon it, a 
great contest arose, 'which was carried on by two par- 
ties that were immediately formed, — the Federalist and 
Anti-Federalist. The former, desiring a strong na- 
tional government, supported the Constitution, while 
the latter, favoring a confederate government which 
should allow the States to retain more power than 
the Constitution gave them, opposed it. The people 
finally accepted the Constitution as a bond of union. 
Its establishment was assured by its ratification by 
the ninth State, New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. Thus 
it was declared that the United States is a nation and 
not a confederacy. 

The Constitution went into legal operation on the 



12 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

fourth of March, 1789. Delaware was the first State 
to ratify it, December 7, 1787, and Rhode Island the 
last, May 29, 1790. 

22. Summary. — We have now seen that the idea 
of a union existed among the colonists from the earliest 
years of their history ; that from time to time they en- 
tered into loosely governed leagues of friendship and 
confederacies for the general welfare; that experience 
showed the weakness of such associations; and that 
the interest and safety of all at last impelled them to 
form a "more perfect union" under a constitutional 
government. 

GOVERNMENT UNDER THE CONSTITU- 
TION. 

23. Preamble. — The first sentence of the Consti- 
tution, usually called the preamble, is an introduction 
or preface to the body of the instrument. It states 
the source of the authority and sets forth the pur- 
poses of the Constitution. 

24. Authority of the Constitution. — The source 
of the authority of the Constitution is the people of 
the United States. 

25. Purposes of the Constitution. — 



To form a more perfect union. 

To establish justice. 

To insure domestic tranquillity. 

To provide for the common defence. 

To promote the general welfare. 



THE NATIONAL GOA^ERNMENT 13 

6. To secure the blessings of liberty to the people 
of the United States and their posterity. 

26. Departments of the Government. — The leg- 
islative department, which makes the laws, the execu- 
tive department, which enforces the laws, and the ju- 
dicial department, which interprets the laws. 

Experience has shown this way of distributing the 
powers of government to be well adapted to secure 
public liberty and private rights. 

It is a fundamental principle of American government that 
these great powers (or any two of them) should not be con- 
fided to the same person or body, but that they should be given 
to separate departments, each independent of the others in its 
own proper sphere, and each forbidden to encroach upon the 
rights and powers of the others. But a certain blending of 
governmental powers permits each branch of the government 
to act as a restraint upon any arbitrary or unwise action of 
the others. In this way our Constitution establishes what is 
called a system of "checks and balances." For instance, the 
President appoints the principal officers of the government, 
but they must be confirmed by the Senate. So also he negotiates 
treaties, but they cannot become effective without the consent 
of the Senate. On the other hand, Congress makes the laws, 
but the President may veto them. The judges act as a check 
on both the other departments through their power to restrain 
unlawful official action and to refuse to give effect to laws 
which are contrary to the Constitution. 



14 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ARTICLE I. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section I. Congress. 

27. Legislative Powers. — All legislative powers 
granted in the Constitution are vested in a Congress 
of the United States. 

28. Division. — Congress consists of a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

29. Reasons for Division. — 

1. That both the people and the States may be duly 
represented. The Senate represents the States, and 
the House of Representatives the people. 

In the Constitutional Convention the small States 
threatened to oppose the whole plan of a new gov- 
ernment, unless in one branch they might have equal 
votes with the large States. 

2. That each House may be a check on the other 
to prevent hasty and ill-considered legislation. 

With two Houses each is likely to act with care and 
deliberation with the knowledge that its measures are 
subject to approval, revision or rejection by the other. 

The word House is frequently used to designate either of the 
legislative bodies. 

Section II. The House of Representatives. 

30. Election. — Representatives are elected by the 
people of the several States. 



CONGRESS 15 

31. Representatives "at Large." — The division of States into 
Congressional districts, each of which elects one Representative, 
is made by the State legislatures. In some instances one or 
more Representatives in addition to those chosen by the dis- 
tricts have been elected "at large," that is, by the people of the 
whole State. This has been done in States which have failed 
to rearrange their districts after a new appointment has in- 
creased the number of Representatives to which they are 
entitled. 

32. Term. — The term of office of a Representative 
is two years. 

It is a fundamental principle of republican govern- 
ment that representatives shall be directly responsible 
to the people whose servants they are. In order that 
the people may have due opportunities of showing their 
approval or disapproval of the conduct of their repre- 
sentatives, frequent elections are necessary. 

33. Salary. — The salary of a Representative is 
$7,500 a year. In addition, he is allowed mileage (to 
cover his expenses in going to and from the seat of 
government) and the pay of a clerk or secretary, 
and is supplied with stationery without cost. 

34. Qualifications for a Representative. — 

1. He must be not less than twenty-five years of 
age. 

That he may have acquired the knowledge and ex- 
perience necessary for the proper exercise of so im- 
portant a trust. 

2. He must have been seven years a citizen of the 
Umted States. 

That he may be familiar with our institutions and 
may have a patriotic pride in sustaining them. 



16 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

3. He must, when elected, be an inhabitant of the 
State in which he shall be chosen. 

That he may know the needs of his State. 

It is not required that a Representative shall reside in the 
district in which he shall be chosen. 

35. Apportionment. — Representatives and direct 
taxes are apportioned among the States according to 
their respective numbers, that is, in proportion to the 
population. 

36. Taxation and Representation. — The rally- 
ing cry of the people during the Revolution was, "Tax- 
ation without representation is tyranny." The colo- 
nists had been taxed without their consent and this 
was one of the principal causes which impelled them to 
a change of government. Remembering the experi- 
ence of the people under an unjust system of taxation, 
the framers of the Constitution, by placing taxation 
and representation on the same basis as regards ap- 
portionment, designed to establish equality of taxation 
and representation as a principle of our government. 

37. Ratio of Representation. — The present ratio 
is one Representative for every 211,877 inhabitants. 

This does not mean that every Congressional district 
must have at least 211,877 inhabitants. The districts 
are arranged by the State legislatures with a view to 
distributing the population among the districts as 
nearly equally as the population of cities and towns 
will allow. It is not desirable to divide a town so 
that a part shall be in one district and the remainder 
in another. 



CONGRESS 17 

The last apportionment was established by Act of 
Congress, July, 191 1. 

38. Each State Entitled to Representation. — A 
State with a number of inhabitants less than the basis 
cannot be excluded from representation in the House. 
Each State, however small its population, shall have 
at least one Representative. 

The admission of New Mexico and Arizona in 191 1, 
with an allowance of one Representative each, brings 
the total number of Representatives up to 435. 

39. Census. — The census is the process of count- 
ing or numbering the population. It is taken every 
ten years. The first census was taken in 1 790 ; the last 
in 1920. 

40. Territorial Representation. — Each organized 
Territory is allowed by Act of Congress to send one 
delegate to the House of Representatives, who has the 
right of debating but not of voting. 

41. First Congress Under the Constitution. — 
The old Congress (under the Articles of Confedera- 
tion) directed that the new Congress (under the Con- 
stitution) should meet at New York, on the fourth day 
of March, 1789. In the meantime the elections for 
President, Vice President, and members of Congress 
were to be held. A sufficient number of Representa- 
tives to constitute a quorum assembled on the first of 
April, and the Senate organized and chose its presiding 
officer on the sixth. The electoral votes were then 
counted, and George Washington was declared to have 
been elected President and John Adams Vice President. 
Washington went from his home at Mount Vernon 



< 



18 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

to New York, and was sworn into office on the 30th 
of April. The Vice President had taken his place as 
President of the Senate. Thus the new government of 
the United States under the Constitution came into 
existence and began its work. 

There was provision made for 26 Senators and 65 Repre- 
sentatives in the first Congress. The sixty- sixth Congress con- 
sists of 96 Senators and 435 Representatives. 

42. Vacancies. — When a vacancy happens in the 
representation from any State, the executive author- 
ity thereof appoints a special election when the people 
elect a Representative to serve during the unexpired 
part of the term. 

By executive authority is meant the governor, or the person 
performing the duties of that officer. 

43. Power to fill Vacancy. — The power to fill the 
vacancy by appointment is not given to the governor, 
because the Constitution provides that Representatives 
shall be elected by the people. "Only the power that 
originally elects can legally fill a vacancy." 

44. Speaker. — The presiding officer of the House 
of Representatives is called the Speaker. He is chosen 
by the House. As he is a regularly elected member, he 
has the right to speak and vote on all questions. His 
salary^is $12,000 a year and mileage. 

The title of "Speaker" is copied from that of the presiding 
officer of the House of Commons of the British Parliament. 
The Speaker speaks for the House on occasions of ceremony, 
as the Speaker of the House of Commons formerly spoke in 
answer to the King when he addressed that body. The Speaker 
of the House of Representatives was formerly entrusted with 



CONGRESS 19 

the important power of appointing all the committees of the 
House, which gave him great influence and a measure of power 
second only to that of the President; but now the committees 
are elected by the House. 



Section III. The Senate. 

45. Senate. — The Senate is composed of two Sen- 
ators from each State. 

46. Election. — Senators were originally elected by 
the State legislatures, but the Seventeenth Amendment 
to the Constitution (adopted in 19 13) changes this by 
providing for their election by direct vote of the peo- 
ple. 

47. Term. — The term of office of a Senator is six 
years. 

The reasons for making the term of a Senator 
longer than that of a Representative are: 

1. To obtain a body of wiser and more experi- 
enced men than the House is likely to contain. It was 
thought that the term being longer, more care would 
be taken in the selection of Senators. 

2. To prevent such changes, at brief periods, in the 
membership of both Houses, as would tend to derange 
the public business and to cause too frequent changes 
in the laws. 

3. As Representatives are so immediately respon- 
sible to the people, it is well that Senators should be 
made more independent in their action by the assur- 
ance of a longer term of service. 

48. Salary. — The salary of a Senator is $7,500 
a year and mileage. 



20 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

49. Classification. — The Senators were at first di- 
vided into three classes : the first class to retire at the 
end of the second year ; the second class at the end of 
the fourth year; and the third class at the end of the 
sixth year. 

Thus, while the House must be reorganized every 
second year, the Senate is a permanent body, since but 
one-third of its members retire at one time. By this 
arrangement, while new members are frequently enter- 
ing, there always remains a large proportion of ex- 
perienced Senators who are familiar with the public 
business. 

50. Vacancies. — The Seventeenth Amendment to 
the Constitution directs that when vacancies happen in 
the representation of any State in the Senate, the ex- 
ecutive authority of such State (the governor or the 
officer who is acting as governor at the time) shall 
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; but the 
legislature of any State may empower the executive 
thereof to make temporary appointments until the peo- 
ple fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may 
direct. 

51. Qualifications for a Senator. — 

1. He must be not less than thirty years of age. 
The age requirement is greater than that for a 

Representative because of the greater dignity and im- 
portance of the position; the duties of a Senator being 
more varied and his powers greater than those of a 
Representative. 

2. He must have been nine years a citizen of the 
United States. 



CONGRESS 21 

Foreign-born persons are eligible to the Senate, but 
as they must have been in the country five years be- 
fore they can become citizens, fourteen years must 
elapse before they can be elected Senators. As the 
Senate acts with the President in making treaties, 
it is important that Senators, if adopted citizens, 
should have been in the country long enough to become 
alienated from their native countries to such a degree 
that they will not wish to favor them unduly in the 
formation of treaties. 

3. He must, when elected, be an inhabitant of the 
State for which he shall be chosen. 

The propriety of this is evident. A resident will 
understand the local interests and needs and be more 
closely in touch with the people of the State than a 
non-resident. 

52. Number. — There are ninety-six Senators, two 
for each of the forty-eight- States. 

53. President of the Senate. — The Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States presides in the Senate. 

The office of Vice-President was created that there 
might be an officer to succeed to the Presidency in case 
of a vacancy in that office. If the Vice-President did 
not preside in the Senate he would have no duties to 
perform. As President of the Senate he holds a posi- 
tion of dignity and importance, and one which gives 
him an opportunity to gain a knowledge of the public 
business that would be of advantage to him should he 
be called to act as President. Moreover, it was thought 
that the Vice-President, representing the Nation and 



22 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

not a State, would discharge the duties of presiding 
officer more impartially than a Senator. 

As the Vice-President is not a member of the Sen- 
ate he has not the right of debating and he can vote 
only in case of a tie, that is, when the Senators are 
equally divided. Such a vote is termed the ''casting 
vote." 

54. President Pro Tempore. — Early in each ses- 
sion the Senate elects a President pro tempore ( for the 
time being), who presides whenever the Vice-Presi- 
dent is absent. 

When there is no Vice-President the President pro tempore 
receives the salary of the Vice-President. 

55. Casting Vote. — Neither the President pro 
tempore nor the Speaker has a casting vote. Each has 
only his vote as a member of the body to which he 
belongs. In case of a tie the motion is lost, as a ma- 
jority is needed to carry a vote, and a tie constitutes 
one less than a majority. 

56. Committees. — The Senate elects its commit- 
tees. 

Much of the preliminary work of legislation is done by com- 
mittees. The Senate has more than seventy standing (per- 
manent) committees, and the House has more than fifty. Each 
house also has special committees which are appointed for tem- 
porary purposes, and joint committees are sometimes appointed. 
Subjects brought before Congress on which legislation is pro- 
posed are referred to appropriate committees for investigation 
and report. The committees are named from the subjects under 
their jurisdiction. Some of the most important committees are 
those on Ways and Means (which deals with tax and revenue 
measures), Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Finance, Com- 
merce, and the Judiciary. 



CONGRESS 23 

When each house of Congress passes a bill on the same sub- 
ject, but the two bills are not identical in their provisions, or 
when one house proposes amendments which are not accepted 
by the other, a "conference committee" is appointed, composed 
of a small number of Senators and an equal number of Repre- 
sentatives, and it is the office of this committee to reconcile dif- 
ferences and effect compromises, so that eventually a bill may be 
drafted which will be accepted and passed by both houses. 

Sometimes a legislative body resolves itself into a Committee 
of the Whole, which has, of course, the same membership as 
the body, and the same organization except the presiding officer, 
who is called the chairman and is appointed by the regular 
presiding officer of the House. The advantage of such a com- 
mittee is that, many of the rules of the House being dispensed 
with, a measure may be discussed with more freedom and 
amended more readily than in regular session. The Committee 
of the Whole reports to the House in the same manner as other 
committees. The House may then adopt or reject the report. 

57. Impeachment. — This is a process by which 
the President, Vice President, or any other civil officer 
of the United States, including the judges, may be ac- 
cused of crime or official misconduct, and tried by the 
Senate sitting as a court of justice, and removed from 
office if he is found guilty. The House of Representa- 
tives has the sole power of impeaching a public officer, 
and the Senate has the sole power of trying him. 

The grounds for an impeachment, as stated in the Con- 
stitution, are "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis- 
demeanors." The latter term means not only offenses against 
the ordinary criminal laws, but also offenses of a political or 
official nature, that is, such misbehavior or wrongdoing in the 
exercise of his office as shows the person to be unfit to hold it. 
The process of impeachment is this : Any member of the House 
of Representatives may move the impeachment of any public 
officer who is liable to be proceeded against in that way. The 
question is then referred to a committee for a preliminary in- 



M HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

vestigation and a report. If the report is in favor of the mo- 
tion, it is voted on by the House, and if the motion is carried, 
the House appoints a number of its own members (usually five 
or seven) to be "managers of the impeachment." They draw 
up the formal written accusation, called "articles of impeach- 
ment," and present it before the Senate, and it is their duty to 
prosecute the impeachment upon the trial in the Senate. Thus 
the House may be likened to a grand jury, which presents the 
indictment, and the managers to the prosecuting attorney, and 
the Senate to a court which tries the accused and passes judg- 
ment upon him. By an express provision of the Constitution, 
the right of trial by jury cannot be claimed in cases of impeach- 
ment, and by another the President's power to grant a pardon 
does not extend to one who has been convicted on an im- 
peachment. 

58. Chief Justice as Presiding Officer. — The 
Chief Justice presides in the Senate when the Presi- 
dent of the United States is on trial. The Vice-Presi- 
dent is not allowed to preside at that time because he 
might be tempted to favor the conviction of the Presi- 
dent in order to succeed him in office. 

59. Conviction. — The concurrence of two-thirds 
of the members present is necessary to the conviction 
of an officer who is impeached. 

60. Judgment. — In cases of impeachment, judg- 
ment shall not extend further than to removal from 
office and disqualification for holding any office of 
honor, trust, or profit under the United States. 

The offender is further liable to prosecution in the 
courts and to punishment for his acts so far as they 
are offences against the laws. 

61. Power of Impeachment. — This is one of the 
most important powers granted by the Constitution, 
as it is the only mode in which the Judiciary is made 



CONGRESS 25 

responsible, and also acts as a check on the Executive. 

62. Most Noted Case of Impeachment in our 
History. — Feb. 25, 1868, the House of Representa- 
tives impeached Andrew Johnson, President of the 
United States. The principal charge against him was 
the violation of a recent Act of Congress known as 
the Tenure of Office Act, in that he had removed Ed- 
win M. Stanton from his position as Secretary of War 
without the consent of the Senate. 

The trial began March 5, Chief Justice Chase pre- 
siding, and ended May 26th, when the President was 
acquitted. Thirty-five Senators voted ' 'guilty," and 
nineteen "not guilty.'' This was one less than the two- 
thirds vote required for conviction. 

Section IV. Both Houses. 

63. "A Congress." — By this term is meant the 
whole body of Senators and Representatives holding 
office for two years from March 4 of every odd year. 

These two years constitute a Representative term of office. 

64. Congressional Elections. — The State Legis- 
latures have power to regulate Congressional elections, 
but Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter 
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
Senators. 

"The propriety of this clause rests on the propo- 
sition that every government ought to contain in itself 
the means of its own preservation." — Alexander Ham- 
ilton. 



26 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Should the States refuse to make such regulations, 
the operations of the general government would be sus- 
pended, if this power were not given to Congress. 

65. Exception as to Places. — The purpose of this 
restriction was that Congress should not have the ar- 
bitrary power of dictating to State legislatures where 
they should meet. The legislatures should decide this 
with reference to their own convenience. But this has 
ceased to be of importance now' that Senators are 
elected by popular vote and not by the State legisla- 
tures. 

66. Assembling of Congress. — Congress shall as- 
semble at least once in every year, and such meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in December unless Con- 
gress shall, by law, appoint a different day. 

67. Sessions. — Each Congress holds two regular 
sessions. The first is often called the "long session" ; 
the other, the "short session." 

Each Congress ends at noon, March 4, at the end 
of the second regular session. 

The President has power to call together either or both of 
the Houses of Congress in a "special" or extra session, on 
extraordinary occasions, that is, whenever he considers that the 
public interests require it. 

Section V. Powers of Each House. 

68. Membership. — Each House shall be the judge 
of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its mem- 
bers. 

When two persons claim the same seat in either 
House, that House has the power to decide which was 



CONGRESS 27 

legally elected and is therefore entitled to the seat. 
Until a decision is reached, the seat is said to be con- 
tested. 

Each House may decide whether any person elected 
to membership therein has the qualifications for mem- 
bership prescribed by the Constitution. 

Returns are the formal official accounts by election officers 
of the votes cast at elections. 

69. Quorum. — A majority constitutes a quorum 
in each House. If a quorum is not present, no busi- 
ness can be done. But a number less than a quorum 
(fifteen members by the rules of the House of Repre- 
sentatives) may compel the attendance of absent mem- 
bers, so that the public business may proceed. 

A majority is more than half. Less than half is a minority. 

There has been much controversy as to whether in order to 
constitute a quorum a majority must be present and voting, or 
simply present, when business is transacted. The practice in 
the past has not been uniform. At times, a present quorum has 
been regarded as sufficient; at others, a voting quorum has 
been required. Under the latter rule the way is open for the 
minority party to "filibuster," by refusing to vote, when the 
majority party has not a sufficient number present to constitute 
a voting quorum. In this way the public business has been 
greatly delayed. 

Another question that has caused much discussion is, who 
shall determine the presence of a quorum. In practice a quorum 
is ordinarily presumed to be present, and legislative business 
proceeds, however few members take part, by consent of those 
who are silent. If at any time a member suggests that there 
is no quorum, that point must be decided before final action is 
taken on any question. It has not been definitely decided 
that a quorum is necessary during debate. 

The Constitution provides no method of ascertaining the 



28 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

presence of a quorum. To allow the presiding officer to de- 
termine the question seems to be placing a dangerous power in 
the hands of one man. 

These difficulties have been met in the House of Representa- 
tives by the adoption of a rule (April 18, 1894,) which recog- 
nizes the principle of a present quorum as correct, and prescribes 
a method of counting a quorum which seems safe and fair. 
The rule provides that upon each roll-call the Speaker shall 
appoint two tellers, one from each side of the pending question, 
whose duty it shall be to note the presence of members who 
do not vote or do not answer "present"; and that in deter- 
mining whether a quorum is present the Speaker shall take into 
consideration the names of those who have voted yea and nay, 
the names of those who have responded "present," and, if neces- 
sary, the names of others who have been noted by the tellers but 
have not responded at all. 

70. Adjournment. — A number less than a quorum 
may adjourn from day to day. This provision, to- 
gether with that which authorizes a minority to compel 
the attendance of absent members, is necessary to pre- 
vent an interruption of the session and to make sure 
that factious members cannot obstruct the public busi- 
ness by absenting themselves from their places without 
good reasons. 

71. Adjournment by President. — In case the two 
houses of Congress cannot agree as to the time of 
adjourning a session, the President may adjourn 
Congress to such time as he shall think proper. But 
this is the only case in which he has the power to end 
a session of Congress. If he could prorogue or dis- 
solve the Congress at his own will and pleasure, he 
could prevent the people's representatives from making 
the laws or taking part in the government of the 
country. 



CONGRESS 29 

72. Restrictions on Adjournment. — Neither 
House shall without the consent of the other, adjourn 
for more than three days, nor to any other place than 
that in which both are sitting. 

This is to prevent either House from long interrupt- 
ing the course of legislation as, in case of a conflict 
between the two Houses, might otherwise happen. An 
adjournment for three days is permitted to allow for 
Sundays and holidays. 

73. Pairing. — Sometimes a member who is obliged to be 
absent when the passage of an important measure is pending, in 
order that his party may not lose his vote, pairs with some 
member of the opposite party who is to be present when the 
vote is taken. As the absent member cannot vote, the mem- 
ber with whom he is paired is allowed to decline to vote. The 
result is the same as though both were present and voting on 
opposite sides. 

74. Removal from Office. — Each House, with the 
concurrence of two-thirds, may expel a member. 

75. Journal. — Each House shall keep a journal of 
its proceedings and, from time to time, publish the 
same except such parts as may, in their judgment, re- 
quire secrecy. 

The journal is a written record of the proceedings. 

76. Yeas and Nays. — These shall be entered on 
the journal when the final vote is taken on the recon- 
sideration of bills vetoed by the President, and on any 
question at the desire of one-fifth of the members 
present. 

The yeas and nays are the votes for and against a measure. 



30 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

The object of this provision is that, by the publicity 
thus given, members may be held immediately respon- 
sible to the people for their votes on important ques- 
tions. 

The yeas and nays are taken by calling the roll of 
members, each, in turn, announcing his vote, which is 
then recorded. 

yy. Filibustering. — At times, a minority, bent on defeating 
a pending measure, have consumed the time during which it 
could be considered by making many and frequently trivial 
motions and insisting on the calling of the roll on each motion. 
The motion to adjourn, which, being a highly privileged mo- 
tion, can be renewed frequently, is often made to serve this 
purpose. Sometimes this practice has been kept up for several 
days and nights. This and other artful methods of delaying 
legislation have been termed "filibustering." As the original 
meaning of "filibustering" is an ~ irregular and irresponsible 
mode of carrying on war, it is appropriately applied to such 
methods of parliamentary warfare. 



Section VI. Privileges of Members. 

78. Compensation. — Members of Congress are 
paid for their services by the general government out 
of the treasury of the United States. 

79. Personal Privileges. — 1. Members are privi- 
leged from arrest in all cases except treason, felony, 
and breach of the peace, during the sessions of Con- 
gress and while going to and returning from the same. 

Freedom of members from arrest secures to their 
constituents their rightful representation in Congress. 
The public interests should not suffer because one man 
has committed some minor offence. 



CONGRESS 31 

2. For any speech or debate in Congress a member 
shall not be questioned in any other place. 

That is, legally questioned. This preserves mem- 
bers from suits for slander on account of words spoken 
in their places in Congress, and secures to them the 
utmost freedom in the discussion of public questions. 
This privilege does not give a member of Congress 
the right to publish a speech in which he defames the 
character of others. In such case he is as liable to 
the penalties provided by law as any other man. 

An arrest is the seizure and detention of a person by a public 
officer dury authorized to perform that act. 

"Treason against the .United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort." Const, art. 3, sec. 3. Felony is a crime 
of a grave or atrocious nature, or, generally speaking, one 
which is punishable by death or imprisonment in a penitentiary. 
Breach of the peace is disorderly conduct or such behavior in 
a public place as disturbs the public peace. As here used, the 
term includes any indictable offense. It is also included in 
the privilege of a Senator or Representative that he cannot be 
compelled to attend court as a witness or serve as a juryman. 
But this does not prevent him from being liable to an ordi- 
nary civil suit. 

80. Members of Congress and United States 
Offices. — No person holding any office under the 
United States shall be a member of either House dur- 
ing his continuance in office. 

A member of Congress is not an officer of the 
United States, but a representative of a State or of the 
people. It would not be proper for him to hold office 
under the United States, as matters relating to that 
office might become the subjects of legislation, and he 



32 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ought not to be allowed to vote on any matter in which 
he is directly interested as an individual. 

Section VII. How the Laws Are Made. 

81. Bill Defined. — A bill is a proposed law drawn 
up in proper form. 

When a bill becomes a law it is called an Act or 
Statute, from the Latin, Statuo, to fix or establish. 

82. Revenue. — All bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the House of Representatives. 

Revenue is the income of a nation or the money re- 
ceived into its treasury for public use. The word has 
a restricted meaning here, applying only to money 
raised by taxation and not from other sources, as the 
sale of public lands, etc. Bills relating to other sub- 
jects may originate in either House. The reason for 
the exception as to revenue is that since the people 
by the payment of taxes furnish the greater part of the 
revenue, they should have the power, through their 
direct representatives, of deciding how much money 
should be raised by taxation, and in what manner. 
This provision would operate as a check on the Presi- 
dent or the Senate, or both, should they desire to carry 
out any expensive policy which the people did not 
approve. The people, through the House of Repre- 
sentatives, would refuse to raise the necessary revenue. 

83. How a Bill May Become a Law. — 1. The 
bill must pass both Houses by a majority vote in each, 
and then must be sent to the President for his signa- 
ture. If he approves the bill he signs it and it becomes 
a law. 



CONGRESS 33 

2. If the President vetoes a bill (that is, refuses 
to sign it,) he returns it, with his objections, to the 
House in which it originated. If, after reconsidera- 
tion, two-thirds of each House approve the bill, it 
becomes a law without the President's signature. In 
such case the bill is said to be passed over the Presi- 
dent's veto. 

3. If a bill is sent to the President for his signa- 
ture, and he does not return it within ten days (Sun- 
days excepted) after it has been presented to him, it 
becomes a law in like manner as if he had signed it, 
unless Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its re- 
turn, in which case it shall not become a law. 

The word "veto" means "I forbid." The power by which 
the President forbids a bill to become a law by refusing to sign 
it, is called the "veto power." 

During the last ten days of each session of Congress many 
bills are passed. Such of these as do not meet the approval 
of the President he has only to retain in his possession (keep 
in his pocket, so to speak,) until the adjournment of Congress, 
when, of course, they fail to become laws. This method of 
preventing Congressional action is termed "pocketing" the bill 
or the "pocket veto." This applies especially to bills passed 
during the last ten days of the short session, the date of ad- 
journment of which is definitely fixed. If the President dis- 
approves of any part of a bill, he must veto it as a whole, or 
else sign it. He has no power to veto separate items in an 
appropriation bill, for instance, as the governors in many of 
the States may do. 

84. Purpose of the Veto Power. — It serves as 
an additional check to hasty and crude legislation, and 
as a weapon with which to defend the Executive De- 
partment. 



34 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

85. Orders and Resolutions. — All orders, resolu- 
tions, and votes of Congress (except on a question of 
adjournment) to which the concurrence of both houses 
may be necessary, must be presented to the President, 
like bills, for his approval or disapproval. This is de- 
signed as a guard to the executive power. It prevents 
Congress from passing under the guise of an order or 
resolution a measure which the President would veto 
if it were in the form of a bill, or which, as a proposed 
act of Congress, he has already vetoed. 

Orders, resolutions, and voles are expressions of the opinion 
or will of a legislative body in a less formal and extended 
manner than by the passage of bills. Resolutions are joint or 
concurrent. An act of Congress is the proper means of making 
a general law which is to operate through the whole country 
and bind all persons who may come within its terms. A joint 
resolution is one adopted by both houses and which has the 
force of law, and therefore must be submitted to the Presi- 
dent, but which does not affect the whole people, but only one 
or more individuals or some branch of the public service. 
Recent examples are resolutions "creating a commission to re- 
port a plan for a national budget system," "authorizing the ap- 
pointment of an ambassador to Peru," and granting American 
citizenship to a named individual. Joint resolutions are also 
used to propose amendments to the Constitution, and for some 
other purposes, as, for example, the declaration of war against 
Germany was made by a joint resolution, which was sub- 
mitted to the President and approved by him April 6, 1917. 

A concurrent resolution is one which is adopted by both 
houses, but which does not operate as a law or does not have 
the force of law, but either relates to the business of Congress 
itself or else merely expresses the opinion or desire of Con- 
gress on a given subject, and therefore need not be submitted 
to the President. Examples are resolutions "creating a joint 
committee on departmental accounts," authorizing the printing 
of extra copies of public documents where the expense exceeds 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 35 

$500, and "declaratory of the judgment of Congress respecting 
foreign alliances." 

Each house of Congress frequently adopts resolutions of 
its own, but as the concurrence of the other house is not neces- 
sary, they are not laid before the President. 

Section VIII. Powers of Congress. 

86. Power of Taxation. — Congress shall have 
power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and 
excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common 
defence and general welfare of the United States. 

Taxes are sums of money exacted of the people by the 
government to defray its expenses and for other public uses. 
Duties are taxes on goods imported or exported. Imposts are 
taxes on imported goods; but such taxes are now generally 
called "customs duties." Excises are taxes on goods produced 
in the country, such as tobacco, for instance, or on sales of 
commodities, or on certain privileges, such as the charter of 
a corporation. These words are all used here to dispel every 
doubt as to the unlimited power of Congress to levy taxes of 
all kinds. But all United States taxes, other than customs 
duties, are known as "internal revenue taxes." 

The government now levies internal revenue taxes on in- 
comes, on estates of decedents, on excess profits of corporations, 
on the capital stock of corporations, on various occupations 
(brokers, proprietors of theaters, bowling alleys, etc.), on the 
transportation of passengers and freight by railroads, on 
theater admissions and club dues, on various legal and business 
documents (in the form of stamp taxes), on the sale of a 
variety of commodities, and on other objects. 

But there are limits on the power of Congress to lay taxes. 
In the first place, it was originally provided that direct taxes, 
like Representatives in Congress, must be apportioned among 
the several States according to their population. (Direct taxes 
are taxes laid directly on the person, as a poll tax, or directly 
on property, as a tax on land, or on a person's income. They 
are so called to distinguish them from indirect taxes, such as 



36 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

those levied on imported goods or on the products of the coun- 
try.) This prevented the imposition of a general income-tax, 
because, in respect to income derived from some sources, a tax 
upon it is a direct tax, and it would be impossible to apportion 
such a tax among the several States. But in 1913 the Sixteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, and this provides 
that "Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on in- 
comes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment 
among the several States, and without regard to any census or 
enumeration." In the same year a law taxing incomes was 
passed. 

The Constitution also says that "no capitation or other direct 
tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumera- 
tion herein before directed to be taken." (A capitation tax is 
a poll tax or a tax laid on the person without reference to 
property.) But if this includes the tax on incomes, it is also 
done away with by the Sixteenth Amendment. 

Congress may not lay any tax or duty on articles exported 
from any State, since such duties evidently could not be dis- 
tributed equally among the States. And all duties, imposts, and 
excises must be uniform throughout the United States. This 
uniformity is geographical, that is, it is sufficient if United 
States taxes are laid equally throughout all parts of the coun- 
try; it is not necessary that they should bear equally upon all 
persons. 

But it should be noticed that the broad power of taxation is 
given to Congress only "to pay the debts and provide for the 
common defense and general welfare of the United States." 
That is, this important power can be exercised only for the bene- 
fit and welfare of the whole country. But the term "the general 
welfare" has received a very broad interpretation. 

87. To Borrow Money on the Credit of the 
United States. — No power but Congress can lawfully 
create a national debt. While the ordinary expenses 
of the government are expected to be paid with money 
raised by taxation, it is sometimes necessary, especially 
in a crisis like that created by the Civil War, 1861- 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 37 

1865, or the much greater crisis created by the World 
War of 1914-1918, for the government tb borrow 
money to meet its extraordinary expenses, looking to 
the future for the gradual payment of the debt. 

Without this power the government would be helpless when 
the life of the nation was at stake, for the ordinary revenue 
would not go far towards paying the expenses incurred in its 
defense. At the close of the Civil War the nation was in debt 
to the amount of about two and a half billion dollars. But in 
1920 the aggregate sum of its borrowings (called collectively 
"the national debt") was nearly ten times as much. Of this 
amount the almost incredible sum of seventeen billion dollars 
was raised in less than two years by four successive popular 
subscriptions, called the "Liberty Loans." The national debt 
is represented, in the hands of those to whom it is owed, by 
bonds, treasury certificates of indebtedness, War Savings Cer- 
tificates, etc. 

88. National Banks; Federal Reserve Banks. — 

The power of Congress to pass laws on the subject of 
banking and the currency is derived from its power to 
borrow money on the credit of the United States, the 
National Banks, created under an Act of Congress 
passed in 1864, and the Federal Reserve Banks, under 
an Act passed in 19 13, being designed to serve as 
agencies or instrumentalities of the United States in 
the management of its fiscal affairs. 

Near the close of the Civil War, Congress judged it neces- 
sary to take some action to regulate the currency (paper 
money), which at that time consisted chiefly of notes issued 
by various State banks, and to unify it and place it on a national 
basis. At the same time it was necessary to create a wider 
market for government bonds and to stabilize and sustain their 
value. To accomplish these two purposes, the national bank- 
ing act was passed, which authorizes the formation of "national 



38 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

banking associations," or "national banks," as they are more 
commonly called, and gives them the valuable privilege of 
issuing their own notes, to circulate as money, up to ninety 
per cent of the par value of government bonds which the 
banks are required to purchase and deposit in the Treasury 
as security for their notes. A prohibitive tax was laid upon 
the notes of State banks, so as to drive them out of circulation, 
and thus it came about that the currency of the country con- 
sisted wholly of notes or certificates issued directly by the 
United States and national bank notes secured by United States 
bonds. 

But while the currency was thus established upon a firm 
and uniform basis, it lacked the quality of elasticity. That is 
to say, in .order to avoid wide fluctuations in the money market, 
it is necessary that the currency of a country should be able 
to expand and contract in proportion as there is need for a 
greater or less amount of it. For this purpose the federal 
reserve banking system was established in 1913, and the banks 
created by it are empowered to issue their notes (federal re- 
serve notes) not only against government bonds but also against 
collateral security, such as notes, drafts, bills of exchange, and 
acceptances, with provisions for the quick and easy enlarge- 
ment or contraction of the amount of such notes outstanding. 

Under this system, the continental United States is divided 
into twelve districts, and in one city of each of the districts 
there is established a Federal Reserve Bank. These cities are 
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, 
Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San 
Francisco. Every national bank is required to become a stock- 
holder (Jto an amount equal to srx per cent of its capital and 
surplus) in the Federal Reserve Bank of the district in which 
it is situated, and the privilege of becoming stockholders or 
members is given to State banks and trust companies on cer- 
tain conditions. A Federal Reserve Bank does not do business 
with the general public as bankers usually do, but is rather a 
bankers' bank, its customers being chiefly the constituent or 
member banks. Thus the regulation and supervision of prac- 
tically the entire banking business of the country is brought 
under the control of the Federal Reserve Board, which is ap- 
pointed to manage and direct the system as a whole. This 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 39 

board consists of seven members, namely, the Secretary of the 
Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency, as representing 
the government, and five other members who are appointed by 
the President. The five so appointed are required to devote 
their entire time to the business of the board, at an annual 
salary of $12,000, and one of them is designated by the Presi- 
dent as Governor and another as Vice Governor of the Board. 

89. To Regulate Commerce. — If this power had 
been given to the States there could have been no en- 
during Union, for doubtless each State would have 
made laws favoring its own commerce at the expense 
of other States. Thus local jealousies and rivalries 
would have been created, which would have strained 
and weakened and at length broken the bonds of union. 
The lack of this power in the general government, 
under the Confederation, was one of its chief defects, 
and, as a consequence, the commerce of the country 
was nearly destroyed because of the conflicting laws of 
the States. 

This is a power of vast and far-reaching extent and 
many of the most important Acts of Congress have 
been passed in the exercise of it. But it is not un- 
limited. The commerce which is subject to the regu- 
lation of Congress is such as is transacted with foreign 
countries, or among the several States (called "inter- 
state" commerce), or with the Indian tribes. But each 
State retains full control over such commerce as is 
conducted wholly within its own borders. Further, 
there is a limitation in the Constitution that "no prefer- 
ence shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another, 



40 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged 
to enter, clear, or pay duties in another/' 

In the exercise of its power to regulate foreign commerce, 
Congress has enacted navigation laws, to govern ships at sea, 
and shipping laws, which control the transportation of pas- 
sengers and freight by sea, and the Seamen's Act, for the 
benefit and protection of sailors on American merchant vessels, 
and laws for the establishment and maintenance of light-houses, 
and national quarantine and sanitary laws, and (partly as a 
war measure, but justifiable also under this power) the Act 
creating the United States Shipping Board, to build, buy, and 
operate merchant ships. Moreover, in the regulation of foreign 
commerce, Congress has from time to time enacted tariff laws, 
laying duties on imported goods for the purpose of raising 
revenue for the support of the government, and of protecting 
home industries against competition with foreign industries of 
the same kind. And it has created a United States Tariff 
Commission, to compile statistics and advise Congress in the 
framing of tariff legislation. And since commerce is not limited 
to the exchange of commodities, but includes intercourse with 
foreign nations as well, and this includes the transportation 
of passengers, the entire subject of immigration from foreign 
lands is within the power of Congress to regulate or restrict. 
.Interstate commerce includes the transportation of persons 
and freight by any and all means of communication which cross 
State lines, that is, which pass from one State into another or 
others. Hence all the great railroad systems of the country 
are within the regulatory power of Congress, and many impor- 
tant laws have been made in regard to their operation, such 
as safety appliance acts, hours of service act, employers' lia- 
bility act, a boiler inspection act, an act regulating the trans- 
portation of explosives, and a bills of lading act. But the 
most important law of this kind is the Interstate Commerce 
Act, passed in 1887, and frequently amended, which created 
the Interstate Commerce Commission, one of whose principal 
duties is to regulate the charges made by interstate railroads, 
the object being to secure fair and uniform rates for freight 
and passengers. This Commission now consists of nine mem- 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 41 

bers, each holding office for a term of seven years at an annual 
salary of $10,000. 

It was also in the exercise of this power that Congress, in 
1906, passed the Pure Food and Drugs Act, which forbids the 
manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or mis- 
branded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, and medi- 
cines, and the act (1918) for the protection of migratory game 
birds. 

The power to regulate commerce also includes the power to 
forbid or prevent any unlawful restraints upon its freedom. To 
effect this Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890), 
which declares illegal all contracts, combinations, and conspira- 
cies in restraint of foreign or interstate commerce or trade, 
and prescribes severe penalties, both civil and criminal, against 
those engaging in such contracts or conspiracies, or monopoliz- 
ing or attempting to monopolize such trade or commerce. In 
the further exercise of the same power, and with a similar 
purpose, an Act was passed in 1914 creating the Federal Trade 
Commission, of five commissioners appointed by the President 
for a term of seven years at an annual salary of $10,000, whose 
principal duty is to prevent persons and corporations from 
using unfair methods of competition in commerce. 

90. To Establish a Uniform Rule of Naturaliza- 
tion. — Naturalization is the process by which a person 
born in a foreign country becomes a citizen of the 
United States. The rule must be uniform throughout 
the country; otherwise a person removing from one 
State to another might lose his rights of citizenship and 
be obliged to wait some time before he c©uld recover 
them under a different system of laws. Thus great 
confusion and inconvenience would be caused. 

91. Process of Naturalization. — 1. The for- 
eigner declares on oath before a United States, State, 
or Territorial Court his intention to become a citizen 
of the United States. He then receives his "first 



42 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

papers," that is, a certificate from the clerk of the 
court. 

2. Two years, at least, having elapsed, the for- 
eigner takes the oath of allegiance in open court, when 
he must prove by two witnesses that he has resided 
continuously in the United States five years, and in the 
State where the court is held one year, that he has 
borne a good moral character and has been well dis- 
posed toward the government. He then receives his 
"second papers" and is entitled to full citizenship. 

This naturalization extends to his minor children, if 
they live in the United States. 

Special concessions are made in the case of for- 
eigners serving in (or recently discharged from) the 
military or naval forces of the United States and sea- 
men on American merchant ships. But anarchists, 
polygamists, and persons who cannot speak the Eng- 
lish language are excluded from the benefit of natural- 
ization, as also Chinese persons. In fact, those who 
may be naturalized are described merely as "free white 
persons, and persons of African nativity or descent." 

In taking the oath of allegiance, the foreigner re- 
nounces allegiance to every foreign government, and 
particularly that of which he has been a citizen or 
subject, and solemnly promises to support the Consti- 
tution of the United States. If he has borne any 
title of nobility, he must likewise renounce it on apply- 
ing for American citizenship. 

92. To Establish Uniform Laws on the Subject 
of Bankruptcies Throughout the United States. — 
It was necessary to give this power to Congress, both 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 43 

to secure a uniform system of bankruptcy law, courts, 
and administration throughout the whole country, and 
because the States, being forbidden to impair the obli- 
gation of contracts, cannot make or enforce a true 
bankruptcy law. 

Bankruptcy is the state of being bankrupt or unable to pay- 
one's debts. A bankruptcy law is a law providing for the 
equal distribution of the property of a bankrupt among his 
creditors, and by which, on giving up his property to be so 
distributed, he may be discharged from legal obligation to make 
any further payment. An Act of Congress of this kind is of 
equal authority, and is administered in the same way, every- 
where within the United States. The United States District 
Courts have jurisdiction of all proceedings in bankruptcy. 
Thus far in our history, this power of Congress has been exer- 
cised four times. The bankruptcy law of 1800 was repealed in 
1803; that of 1841 was repealed in 1843; that of 1867 was re- 
pealed in 1878; that of 1898 is still in force. 

93, To Coin Money and Regulate the Value 
thereof. — The object of this power is to secure uni- 
formity in the value of money throughout the Union, 
and to protect the people from the evils of a currency 
subject to frequent changes in value. 

The money of the United States is coined in the government 
mints at Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other places. Cur- 
rency, such as "greenbacks," bank notes, and the like, is not 
really money, but only a promise to pay money on demand; 
but as this promise is backed by the honor and faith of the 
government, paper money circulates everywhere as the equiva- 
lent of gold or silver coins. The currency now consists of 
United States notes, or treasury notes, national bank notes, 
federal reserve notes, and gold and silver certificates. 

94. To Fix the Standard of Weights and Meas- 
ures. — A standard of weights and measures is an es- 



44 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tablished rule or model by which all weights and meas- 
ures may be tested to ascertain if they are correct. 
This power was confided to Congress for the sake of 
uniformity and on account of its relation to trade and 
commerce. 

Congress has never fully exercised this power. But it has 
provided a standard Troy pound for the regulation of the 
coinage, passed a permissive statute for the use of the metric 
system throughout the United States, enacted a law defining 
and establishing the units of electrical measure in accordance 
with the standards generally adopted by international agree- 
ment of electricians, and established a Bureau of Standards 
for the making, preservation, and supply of standard instru- 
ments of measurement. This Bureau was established in 1901. 
Its duties relate to the standardization of weights and measures, 
the construction of standards, the testing and calibration of 
measures, and the solution of problems in connection with 
standards; and its services are for the benefit of the United 
States, any State or municipality, or any scientific or educational 
institution, or any individual or corporation in the United 
States engaged in manufacturing or other pursuits requiring the 
use of standard measures. 

95. To Establish Post-Offices and Post- 
Roads. — Post-roads are roads that may be used as 
mail routes. The government now generally uses for 
this purpose roads constructed by others. Early in 
the 19th century the government built a post-road, 
known as the Cumberland, and sometimes as the Na- 
tional, road, from the Potomac river to the Ohio. The 
Pacific railroads, which the government, by grants of 
land and issues of bonds, helped to build, are post and 
military roads. 

The powers conferred by this grant of authority extend much 
beyond this. They invest Congress with the exclusive control 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 45 

over the entire postal system of the country. This includes 
the organization of the post-office department, the appointment 
of its numerous officers, the designation of the cities and towns 
in which local post-offices shall be established, the providing of 
suitable accommodation's for the post-office in such places, the 
determination of the routes over which the mails shall be car- 
ried, including the rural free delivery service, and the collec- 
tion and distribution of the mails in cities, contracting for the 
transportation of the mails, the purchase of the numerous sup- 
plies of every sort needed for the business of the post-office, 
the manufacture and sale of stamps, the postal savings system, 
and the definition and punishment of crimes which tend to 
obstruct or defeat the operations of the government under this 
power or to endanger the security of the mails. 

96. To Grant Patents, Trade-marks, and Copy- 
rights. — A patent is an exclusive right granted to an 
inventor to make and sell a new invention, such as a 
machine, an article of manufacture, a composition of 
matter, a process or art, which patents are granted for 
seventeen years, without renewal except .by act of 
Congress. 

Patents are granted also for designs, such as orna- 
ments, patterns, and pictures, to be placed on or worked 
into manufactured articles, or any new shape of such 
articles, and are granted for three and one-half, seven, 
or fourteen years, at the option of the applicant. 

Trade-marks, consisting of an arbitrary symbol or 
design, such as are placed by manufacturers on their 
productions to distinguish them from those made by 
other persons, are registered for twenty years, with 
the privilege of renewal and extension for twenty 
years. 

A copyright is an exclusive right granted to an au- 



46 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

thor or publisher to print and sell a book, map, en- 
graving, or other literary or artistic work within the 
limits of the country, and is granted for twenty-eight 
years, with the privilege of renewal for twenty-eight 
years. 

The exercise of this important power by Congress 
has made the American people first among the nations 
of the world in the number, variety, and ingenuity of 
inventions. 

97. To Define and Punish Piracies, etc. — Con- 
gress has power to define and punish piracies and fel- 
onies committed on the high seas and offenses against 
the law of nations. 

This power is necessary because it is the United States (and 
not the individual States) which has control of our foreign 
relations, and to which other nations must look for co-opera- 
tion in enforcing the rules of international law, as well as 
for the redress of injuries committed against that law. Piracy 
is a robbery or forcible depredation upon the high seas, without 
lawful authority, done in the spirit and intention of universal 
hostility. Under United States laws, the punishment is im- 
prisonment for life. Felonies are crimes of the more grave or 
atrocious sort. The "high seas" are the great oceans, outside 
the boundaries or territorial waters of any state. They are not 
the property of any nation but of all mankind, and are free 
for the passage of the ships of every people. The law of na- 
tions, or international law, is the system of rules and principles 
which civilized nations recognize as binding upon them, and by 
which they agree to be governed, in their mutual dealings and 
relations. 

98. To Declare War. — This important power is 
not confided to the judgment and discretion of any one 
man, even the President, but to Congress, that is, to 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 47 

the representatives of all the people and of all the 
States, since all must share the burdens of war. 

The power of Congress does not stop with a declaration of 
war. It is not given power to "wage" war, because that be- 
longs to the President as commander in chief. But Congress 
may take all the measures necessary to prosecute the war to 
success. ''This power necessarily extends to all legislation es- 
sential to the prosecution of war with vigor and success, 
except such as interferes with the command of the forces and 
the conduct of campaigns." 

When the United States entered the Great War in 1917, Con- 
gress proceeded to pass many laws which were necessary to 
raise a sufficient military force and to mobilize the power, 
industry, and resources of the entire country. Among them 
were the selective draft act, by which an army of 4,000,000 
men was raised; the Liberty Loan acts, which provided 17 
billion dollars; the laws registering and restricting the activity 
of such alien enemies as were already within the country, and 
forbidding all trading with the enemy; the espionage law 
(forbidding spying or the betrayal of military secrets) and 
laws punishing seditious conduct against the government which 
might aid the enemy; laws authorizing the President to take 
over and operate the entire railroad system of the country as 
well as the telegraph, telephone, and cable lines; laws authoriz- 
ing the government to build, buy, and requisition ships; a law 
creating the War Finance Corporation, to provide credits for 
industries and enterprises necessary or contributory to the 
prosecution of the war; laws for the conservation and control 
of all food products and fuel; and laws to provide housing for 
war needs, to prohibit sabotage with respect to war material 
or premises or utilities connected with the war, to regulate the 
manufacture and distribution of explosives, to provide insurance 
for the soldiers, and for many other purposes. This will 
illustrate the immense and far-reaching powers which are vested 
in the representatives of the American people when the coun- 
try engages in a war. 

Many of these laws seemed to infringe deeply upon the lib- 
erty which belongs to the citizens of a free country. But it 
is important for the reader to remember that they were all 



48 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

justified by the power given to Congress to "declare war," 
that is to say, by the Constitution itself. For even in time 
of war the Constitution is not suspended or set aside, but re- 
mains supreme. The Supreme Court has said: "The Constitu- 
tion of the United States is a law for rulers and people equally 
in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protec- 
tion all classes of men, at all times and under all circumstances. 
No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever 
invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can 
be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. 
The government, within the Constitution, has all the powers 
granted to it which are necessary to preserve its existence." 

99. Letters of Marque. — The same clause of the 
Constitution which empowers Congress to declare war 
also authorizes it to "grant letters of marque and re- 
prisal and to make rules concerning captures on land 
and water." 

Letters of marque and reprisal are commissions granted by a 
government to private persons, authorizing them to go beyond 
the "mark" or boundary and to seize the property of another 
government or of its subjects, in retaliation for wrongs and 
injuries received from that government and which it has failed 
to redress. Private armed vessels whose owners have such 
commissions are called "privateers," and their share of the 
value of captured property or ships is called "prize money." 
The laws of the United States recognize and provide for 
privateering, but it is now never resorted to except as an aid 
in prosecuting war against a foreign country, and not always 
then. 

100. To Raise and Support an Army and Navy. 
— Congress has power to raise and support armies, to 
provide and maintain a navy, and to make rules for 
the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces. 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 49 

Without this provision the country would be helpless to de- 
fend itself or to carry on a war. But this power is carefully 
guarded by the provision that no appropriation of money for 
the army shall be for a longer term than two years. Thus the 
people, by controlling the public purse, keep control of the 
army and navy. Standing armies have been regarded as a 
menace to the liberties of the people. In time of peace the 
military and naval forces are recruited by voluntary enlistment, 
but in the Great War (as also in the Civil War) it became 
necessary to resort to conscription or a military draft law to 
raise sufficient forces. The regulations for the government of 
the army and navy are embodied in a set of rules called the 
"Articles of War." Military offenses committed by soldiers or 
sailors are tried and punished by "courts martial," which are 
military courts convened under the authority of the government 
and the Articles of War. 

i oi. The Militia. — Congress has power to provide 

for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the 

Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, also 

to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the 

militia. 

The militia is the body of soldiers in a state or country en- 
rolled for organization and discipline, but not engaged in actual 
service except in emergencies, as distinguished from regular 
troops or a standing army. The enrolled militia of the United 
States includes all able-bodied men in the nation between the 
ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except the regular army 
and certain civilian classes who are exempt. Each State has 
its active militia (the National Guard) made up of volunteers, 
organized into companies, regiments, and brigades, equipped by 
the State, and subject to discipline and drill. 

102. To Exercise Exclusive Legislation over the 
district in which the capital is located, and all places 
purchased by the government for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful 
buildings. 



50 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

A magazine is a strong building for storing explosive mate- 
rials. 

An arsenal is a building for the manufacture and storage of 
arms and military stores. 

A dock-yard is a navy-yard containing naval stores and mate- 
rials for building ships of war, and dry-docks for vessels during 
repairs. 

103. The District of Columbia. — This is the dis- 
trict in which is situated the city of Washington, which 
is the national capital and the seat of government of 
the United States. It is formed from territory which 
was ceded to the United States by the State of Mary- 
land. (That portion of the district which was origi- 
nally ceded by the State of Virginia was afterwards 
ceded back to Virginia.) It is territory over which 
Congress has the right to ''exercise exclusive legisla- 
tion," but of course subject to the other provisions of 
the Constitution. 

The District of Columbia is neither a State nor a Territory. 
In law it is a municipal corporation, like a city or a county. 
It is governed by a board of three Commissioners, who are 
appointed by the President for a term of four years, and one 
of whom must be an engineer officer in the army. These Com- 
missioners have the power to make regulations and ordinances, 
but the laws for the District are made by Congress itself. The 
judges and all the other officers of the District are appointed; 
none is elected by the people. 

104. General Power. — Congress may make all nec- 
essary and proper laws for carrying into execution all 
powers vested by the Constitution in the government 
of the United States. 

It is the opinion of writers on the Constitution that 
Congress would have had this general power if this 



POWERS OF CONGRESS 51 

provision had not been placed in the Constitution, on 
the ground that a grant of powers carries with it all 
needed authority for exercising the powers granted. 
To place the question beyond doubt or cavil this pro- 
vision was inserted. 

Almost the entire criminal jurisprudence of the United States 
is derived from this power. Among the specific powers granted 
to Congress by the Constitution there are only two instances 
in which the definition and punishment of crimes are men- 
tioned : First, Congress has power to "provide for the punish- 
ment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the 
United States"; and second, "to define and punish piracies and 
felonies committed on the high seas and offenses against the 
law of nations." But, as we have seen in the preceding sections, 
Congress possesses and has exercised the power to make laws 
on many varied and important subjects. And to make them 
effective it is necessary to make sure that they shall be obeyed 
and not violated. Hence laws for the punishment of those 
who shall disobey or attempt to frustrate the various acts of 
Congress are "necessary and proper" in the sense of the Con- 
stitution. Such laws have been made for the punishment of 
offenses against the revenue, against the postal service, against 
foreign and interstate commerce, perjury, embezzlement, mal- 
feasance in office, and many other felonies or misdemeanors. 
All these are embodied h* the "Criminal Code of the United 
States," enacted in 1909. 

Section IX. Powers Denied to the United 
States. 

105. Habeas Corpus. — The privilege of the writ 
of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when 
in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

A writ is a written order from a court or magistrate 
to a public officer commanding him to perform some 
specified act. 



52 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Habeas corpus is from the Latin language and 
means "You may have the body." The privilege of 
this writ is justly regarded as one of the great safe- 
guards of individual liberty. A person arrested and 
held in confinement on any charge may apply, himself, 
or through any friend, to the judge of a court for the 
granting of this writ, which commands those having 
him in charge to bring him before the judge, who, on 
hearing the evidence, decides whether or not the pris- 
oner is lawfully deprived of his liberty. The privi- 
lege of habeas corpus was never suspended in this 
country until the Civil War made its suspension neces- 
sary in some instances. 

This great safeguard of personal liberty is so highly 
regarded, that some States have placed in their consti- 
tutions a provision that the privilege of habeas corpus 
shall never be suspended by the State authorities. 

1 06. Attainder and Ex Post Facto Laws. — Con- 
gress may not pass any bill of attainder nor any ex 
post facto law, and the next section of the Constitu- 
tion applies this prohibition equally to the States. 

A bill of attainder is a legislative measure inflicting punish- 
ment, generally death, for treason or other crime, without a 
trial in court. 

An ex post facto law is a law which makes an act punishable 
that was not punishable when committed or which makes an 
act punishable in a manner in which it was not punishable 
when committed. 

107. Export Duties. — Congress may not lay a tax 
or duty on articles exported from any State. 



LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS 55 

Such duties could not be distributed equally among 
the States because they do not all export the same 
articles, the exports of some being mainly agricultural 
products, of others manufactured goods, or the pro- 
ductions of mines. Duties on exports would therefore 
bear heavily on some and lightly on others. To pre- 
vent this inequality, the power to lay such duties is 
denied to Congress. 

1 08. Restrictions as to Interstate Commerce. — 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those 
of another, nor shall vessels bound to or from one 
State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in an- 
other. 

When a vessel leaves a port the captain must obtain a clear- 
ance; that is, a certificate from the collector of customs at that 
port, stating that all fees having been paid and all requirements 
of the law having been complied with, the vessel has been 
cleared at the custom-house and may leave the port. When a 
vessel enters a port it is required that the captain shall report 
the arrival, give a statement of the cargo, and show the clear- 
ance he received at the port from which he came. This is 
termed an entry. The clause in the Constitution relating to the 
clearance and entry of vessels is liable to be misunderstood. The 
meaning is that vessels bound to a foreign country from any 
State, or from a foreign country to any State, shall not be 
obliged to clear or enter in another State, and that vessels 
bound from one State to another shall not be obliged to clear 
or enter in a third State. Before the Revolution, Great Britain 
had compelled American vessels bound to foreign ports to go 
first .to England. It was the purpose of the Constitution to 
place the States on a basis of equality as regards trade. In 
the coasting trade between ports of the United States vessels 
are not generally required to clear or enter. 



54 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

109. Expenditures. — No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury except on appropriations made by 
law. This is an additional guard against the expendi- 
ture of the money of the people without their consent 
legally expressed through their Representatives. And 
in addition it is provided that a regular statement and 
account of the receipts and expenditures of all public 
money shall be published from time to time. 

Special appropriations of money for special purposes are 
made by separate bills from time to time. But the ordinary 
expenses of the government are provided for in the great annual 
appropriation bills, such as that for the legislative, executive, 
and judicial departments, for the post office department, for 
the army and navy, for the agricultural department, and so 
on. The heads of all the departments annually prepare esti- 
mates of the funds needed by their departments in the ensuing 
fiscal year, and these are submitted to the Secretary of the 
Treasury, who compiles them all (including his own) into the 
"Book of Estimates," which is laid before Congress for its 
information and guidance in framing the appropriation bills. 
Proposals for a national budget, to be prepared and submitted 
by an executive bureau, which shall be independent of all the 
departments, are at this time under consideration by Congress. 

1 10. Titles. — The United States may not grant 
any title of nobility. 

This clause forbids all distinctions of rank, thus 
reaffirming the great principle of equality announced 
in the Declaration of Independence. The corner-stone 
of the republic is equality of rights, privileges, and 
rank among all citizens. 

A title of nobility is a name of honor, dignity, or rank, as 
duke, marquis, count, etc., conferred by a government on a 
subject, and which generally may be transmitted by him to his 
descendants. 



LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS 55 

Section X. Powers Denied to the States. 

hi. Treaties, Compacts, etc. — No State shall 
enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation, nor, 
without the consent of Congress, enter into any agree- 
ment or compact with another State or with a foreign 
power. 

These are sovereign powers belonging only to the 
Nation. If given to the separate States, the certain 
result would be confusion and discord. The very 
preservation of the Union might be impossible if a 
State could make an alliance or treaty with a foreign 
government. 

A treaty, in its true sense, is an agreement between nations. 
An alliance is a union or joining of interests for a particular 
purpose, such as the prosecution of a war against a common 
enemy. A confederation is a league for mutual aid and pro- 
tection. The use of all these different terms in this connection 
shows, it is said, "that it was the intention of the framers of 
the Constitution to use the broadest and most comprehensive 
terms, and that they anxiously desired to cut off all connection 
or communication between a State and a foreign power." 

But the States may make agreements with each other, pro- 
vided that Congress will consent thereto, and they have fre- 
quently done so from very early days. Each of the States 
concerned passes a law on the subject, and then Congress passes 
a law giving its consent. In this way they may cede territory 
to each other and change their boundaries. A recent example 
of an interstate contract is the agreement between New Jersey 
and New York for the construction of a tunnel under the 
Hudson River between Jersey City and New York, to which 
Congress gave its consent by an act in 1919. Another example 
is the Act of Congress of April 8, 1918 "to ratify the compact 
and agreement between the States of Oregon and Washington 
regarding concurrent jurisdiction over the waters of the Colum- 
bia River." In consenting to any contract between States, Con- 



56 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

gress may make such reservations as are necessary to secure 
the jurisdiction and rights of the national government. 

112. Fiscal Powers of States. — No State shall 
coin money, or emit bills of credit, or make anything 
but gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of 
debts. 

These restrictive provisions are necessary in order to 
prevent the evils of an irredeemable paper currency, 
and to secure to the people the well known advantages 
of a currency of equal value everywhere in the country. 

Bills of credit, often called paper money, are written or 
printed promises to pay money, issued by a government on its 
credit and designed to circulate as money. United States notes 
are paper money and really bills of credit, but as everyone 
knows that the United States can and will keep its promise to 
redeem them, they circulate freely as money at their full value, 
which does not fluctuate. 

A legal tender is anything that the law declares shall be ac- 
cepted in payment of debts, when tendered. Nothing that is 
subject to frequent changes in value should be made a legal 
tender. Gold and silver are regarded as less liable to such 
changes than other substances. Before the adoption of the 
Constitution some of the States declared their "paper money," 
which they could not pay in coin as promised, a legal tender. 
Thus great loss was caused to creditors, who were obliged to 
accept in payment of debts that which had little or no value 
in place of gold or silver. It was the memory of that experi- 
ence, so disastrous to commerce and morals, which led to the 
adoption of this provision. 

113. Obligation of Contracts. — No State shall 
pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts. 

This provision rests on much the same principle as the pro- 
hibition against ex post facto laws. If men could be released 
from their agreements and obligations by law, no one could 



LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS 57 

rest secure in the possession of property, and no confidence, 
such as is necessary in business transactions, could exist. This 
clause was intended to prevent a recurrence of the evil which 
arose from State interference with contracts under the Confed- 
eration. It also prevents the States from passing bankruptcy 
laws. A bankruptcy law is one under which an honest but 
broken debtor may obtain a release from all his past debts on 
surrendering all his property for division among his creditors. 
Such laws are wholesome and desirable. But if the several 
States could pass them, they might be very different from each 
other in their provisions and effects, resulting in utter confusion. 
So the power to make laws on the subject of bankruptcy is 
given to Congress, and they must be "uniform throughout the 
United States," and, probably for this reason, the Constitution 
does not forbid Congress to pass laws "impairing the obliga- 
tion of contracts." 

114. Duties on Imports and Exports. — No State 
shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any im- 
posts or duties on imports or exports, except what may 
be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection 
laws, and all such laws shall be subject to the revision 
and control of Congress. 

If the states could tax imports and exports, they could not 
only discriminate against each other's products, but they could 
prevent the national government from exercising that complete 
control over foreign and interstate commerce which it was 
intended to have. 

But each state may, for its own protection, levy such small 
duties as are absolutely necessary for executing its own inspec- 
tion laws. Inspection laws are such as authorize and direct 
the examination of various kinds of merchandise intended for 
sale or for exportation, especially food, with a view to ascer- 
taining its fitness for use, and excluding unwholesome or un- 
marketable products from sale or export. 

115. War Power. — No State shall engage in war, 
unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as 



58 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

will not admit of delay. The States have only the 
right of self-defense. All other powers of war are 
reserved to the general government. 

No State may, unless with the consent of Congress, 
keep troops or ships of war in time of peace. But 
the "troops" here meant are such as constitute a pro- 
fessional or standing army. This clause does not ap- 
ply to the militia or National Guard, which is fully 
provided for in other parts of the Constitution. 

ARTICLE II. 

THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section I. President and Vice-President. 

i i 6. Executive Power. — The executive power is 
vested in a President of the United States. 

Efficient executive action requires the strength of 
will and energy of purpose of one able man. If the 
executive power were distributed among several per- 
sons, the dissensions that would arise would tend to 
cause a feeble execution of the laws. 

117. Term. — The term of office of the President 
is four years. 

This period being midway between the term of a 
Representative and that of a Senator was thought by 
the framers of the Constitution to be long enough to 
enable the President to carry fairly through a system 
of administration according to the laws, and to give 
the people an opportunity to form an estimate of the 
merits of whatever policy he might pursue; and so 
short that he would not lose that sense of responsibility 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 59 

to the people so essential to the proper conduct of 
public affairs. 

A President may be reelected as many times as the 
people see fit thus to honor him. No President, how- 
ever, has served more than two terms. Washington 
declined to serve a third term, thus setting an example 
for his successors. Though one President desired a 
third term, the great party which had twice elected him 
refused to grant him a third nomination, notwithstand- 
ing his eminent services to the country. It may now 
be regarded as the settled custom of the country to 
reelect a President but once. 

1 1 8. Salary. — The salary of the President is 
$75,000 a year, being fixed by Act of Congress. But 
in order that he may not be constrained in the dis- 
charge of his duties by either the fear or favor of 
Congress, the Constitution provides that his compensa- 
tion shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which he shall have been elected. 

Hence when Congress, decides to raise the salary of the 
President (as has been done at least twice) the increased com- 
pensation cannot apply to the President who is in office at the 
time, but must wait until the beginning of the next term. 

In addition to his salary, the President has the use of the 
executive mansion (the "White House") and the executive 
offices adjoining. He is provided also with a secretary and 
with a numerous force of clerks and messengers, and there is 
annually appropriated a sum of $30,000 for the contingent ex- 
penses of the executive office, to be expended as the President 
may direct. 

119. Presidential Electors. — The President and 
Vice-President are elected by electors appointed by the 



60 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

States, in such manner as the legislatures thereof may 
direct. 

The electors are now chosen in all the States by vote 
of the people. 

This provision has not operated as intended by the 
framers of the Constitution. They thought that the 
duty of selecting the first two officers of the govern- 
ment should be intrusted to a select body of wise and 
patriotic men, who should be entirely free to weigh the 
merits and qualifications of candidates and to make 
such choice as, in their judgment, would be best for 
the country. The practice of political parties has de- 
feated this intention. Now each party nominates elec- 
tors who are practically pledged to vote, if elected, for 
the candidates of their party. They have no freedom 
of choice. They simply register the will of the people. 

120. Electoral College. — This term is applied to 
the whole body of electors in a State or in the United 
States. Each State is entitled to a number of electors 
equal to the whole number of Senators and Representa- 
tives to which the State is entitled in Congress. In 
the Presidential election of 1916, the electoral college 
numbered 531 electors. 

1 21. Restrictions as to Electors. — Members of 
Congress and all persons holding any office of trust 
or profit under the United States, are prohibited from 
being appointed electors. 

This was designed to keep the electors free from 
personal interest in the election. But as electors do 
not now use their own judgment in selecting the Presi- 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 61 

dent and Vice-President, this provision has little prac- 
tical value. 

122. Electors, When Chosen. — The electors are 
now chosen on the Tuesday next after the first Mon- 
day of the last November of each Presidential term of 
office. This is in pursuance of the provision of the 
Constitution that "Congress may determine the time 
of choosing the electors and the day on which they 
shall give their votes, which day shall be the same 
throughout the United States." 

123. Qualifications for President. — 1. He must 
be a natural born citizen. A foreigner, if naturalized, 
can hold any office under the United States except 
those of President and Vice-President. 

2. He must be not less than thirty-five years of age. 
The requirement as to age is somewhat greater than 

in the case of a Senator on account of the greater dig- 
nity of the office. Besides, it is not probable that the 
people of the whole country would have become suffi- 
ciently familiar with the career and character of a man 
of less years to judge as to his fitness for the office. 

3. He must have been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

That he may know the condition and needs of the 
country. 

The President and Vice-President cannot be citizens 
of the same State. This results from the provision of 
the Constitution that the electors shall vote for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President, "one of whom, at least, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them- 



62 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

selves." If both were nominated from the same State, 
that State could not cast its vote in the election. 

124. Vice-President. — The qualifications for the 
Vice-President are the same as those for President, 
since the former may be called upon to succeed the 
latter. The term of office is also the same. The sal- 
ary of the Vice-President is $12,000 a year. 

125. Election of President and Vice-President. 
— The electors meet in their respective States, usually 
at the capital, on the second Monday in January fol- 
lowing the election, and vote by ballot for President 
and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. The 
electors in each State make lists of all persons voted 
for as President and Vice-President and of the number 
of votes for each. These lists they sign, certify, and 
seal. Three sets of these lists are prepared, one of 
which is sent to the President of the Senate by mail, 
another to the same officer by special messenger, and 
the third is delivered to the judge of the United States 
District Court of the district in which the electors meet. 

On the second Wednesday in February both Houses 
of Congress meet together, and in their presence the 
President of the Senate opens the certificates, and the 
votes are then counted by tellers appointed from each 
House. 

If any candidate for President is found to have a 
majority of all the electoral votes he is declared elected. 

If any candidate for Vice-President is found to have 
a majority of all the electoral votes he is declared 
elected. 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 63 

If in either case no candidate has a majority, there 
is no election by the electors. 

When the electors fail to elect a President the House 
of Representatives chooses the President. 

The election of President in this case devolves upon 
the House of Representatives because that body more 
immediately represents the people. 

When the electors fail to elect a Vice-President the 
Senate chooses the Vice-President. 

126. Popular Vote. — A majority of the popular 
vote is not necessary to the election of President. A 
candidate may have a large majority of the electoral 
vote and yet be in a minority so far as the vote of the 
people is concerned. 

127. Election of President by the House. — 
When the election of President devolves upon the 
House of Representatives, that body must select the 
President from the three highest on the list of those 
voted for as President. 

In such case the vote must be taken by States, each 
State having one vote, to be cast as determined by a 
majority of the Representatives from that State. A 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 

If the House of Representatives shall not choose a 
President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve 
upon that body, before the fourth day of March next 
following, the Vice-President shall act as President, as 
in the case of the death or other constitutional disabil- 
ity of the President. 



64 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

In 1800, Thomas Jefferson was elected President by the House 
of Representatives, because he and Aaron Burr had each re- 
ceived 73 votes in the electoral college, and therefore neither of 
them had "the greatest number of votes." After this (1804) 
the Twelfth Amendment was adopted, to remedy this defect in 
the Constitution. But in 1824, there were no recognized politi- 
cal parties, and there were so many candidates that no one of 
them received a majority of the electoral votes, so that the 
election of President again fell upon the House, which chose 
John Quincy Adams. In this election, however, John C. Cal- 
houn received a majority of the electoral votes for Vice-Presi- 
dent and was declared duly elected to that office. 

128. Election of Vice-President by the Senate. 

— When the election of Vice-President devolves upon 
the Senate, that body must select the Vice-President 
from the two highest on the list of those voted for as 
Vice-President. A quorum for this purpose shall con- 
sist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, 
and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary 
to a choice. 

In the election of 1836 no candidate received a majority of 
the electoral votes for Vice-President, and the election devolved 
upon the Senate, which chose Richard M. Johnson. 

129. Disputed Election of 1876. — An unfore- 
seen difficulty in the election of President occurred in 
1876-77. In four States, Oregon, South Carolina, 
Florida, and Louisiana, two sets of electors claimed 
to be the duly chosen electors. From each of these 
States were sent double returns. When the Senate 
and House met in convention to count the votes, the 
question arose as to which of these returns should be 
recognized as true and legal. Both parties claimed 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 65 

these States and as the result of the election depended 
on their votes the excitement throughout the country 
was intense. 

130. Decision of the Contest. — There being no 
Constitutional provision or law by which the question 
could be settled, both parties agreed to the submission 
of all points in dispute to a commission created by 
Congress and known as the Electoral Commission, 
composed of five Senators, five Representatives, and 
five Justices of the Supreme Court. This Commission 
decided by a vote of eight to seven in favor of the 
Republican electors, and Hayes was declared elected 
by a vote of 185 to 184 for Tilden, the Democratic 
candidate. 

131. Electoral Count Bill. — An Act of Congress 
of 1887 provides that a tribunal appointed in and by 
each State, shall determine what electoral votes from 
the State are legal, and if the State has appointed no 
such tribunal, the two Houses of Congress shall deter- 
mine which votes (in case of double returns) are legal. 
This is intended to prevent a recurrence of the difficulty 
of 1877. 

132. Presidential Succession. — When a vacancy 
occurs in the office of President, the duties of that 
office shall devolve on the Vice-President. A Presi- 
dential Succession law was passed in 1886, providing 
that if, at any time, there be no President nor Vice- 
President, a member of the Cabinet shall act as Presi- 
dent, the order of succession being as follows : the 
Secretaries of State, Treasury, and War, the Attorney- 
General, the Postmaster-General, the Secretaries of 



66 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the Navy and Interior, and, by later enactments, the 
Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, in 
the order named. 

This applies only to such cabinet officers as have the 
qualifications for President prescribed by the Consti- 
tution. 

133. Inauguration. — The President is inaugu- 
rated on the fourth of March next following his elec- 
tion, when the oath of office is administered to him by 
the Chief Justice. 

Section II. Powers of the President. 

134. Commander-in-Chief. — The President shall 
be Commander-in-chief of the army and navy. 

Promptness and vigor as well as wisdom are needed 
in the conduct of military operations. This power is 
intrusted to the executive, where these qualities are 
more likely to be found than in any other department. 
There should be no divided responsibility in the exer- 
cise of the highest military power. 

135. President's Cabinet. — The President may 
require the opinion in writing of the heads of the ex- 
ecutive departments on subjects relating to their official 
duties. 

The heads of the departments, collectively, are called 
the Cabinet. The President calls frequent meetings of 
the Cabinet for the purpose of consulting with them 
on public matters and obtaining their advice as to the 
management of the executive department. The sal- 
aries of the Cabinet officers are $12,000 a year each. 

136. The Executive Departments. — The im- 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 67 

mense and varied business of the government is car- 
.ried on through the ten great Executive Departments, 
each of which has been created by an Act of Con- 
gress, since the Constitution, though it authorizes their 
establishment, does not prescribe their number or char- 
acter. The names of the departments, with the dates 
of their establishment and their heads are as follows : 

Department of State (1789), Secretary of State. 

Treasury Department (1789), Secretary of the 
Treasury. 

War Department (1789), Secretary of War. 

Navy Department (1798), Secretary of the Navy. 

Department of the Interior (1849), Secretary of the 
Interior. 

Post Office Department (1794), Postmaster Gen- 
eral. 

Department of Justice (1789), Attorney General. 

Department of Agriculture (1862), Secretary of 
Agriculture. 

Department of Commerce (1903), Secretary of 
Commerce. 

Department of Labor (1913), Secretary of Labor. 

In most of the departments the work of the department is 
divided up among a number of "bureaus" and "divisions." Each 
head of a department has under him a large number of officers 
and employees, among whom the Chief Clerk is an important 
officer, as he has general supervision of the subordinate clerks 
and of the business of the department. Each head of a depart- 
ment is authorized to make rules and regulations for the gov- 
ernment of his department, the conduct of its officers and 
clerks, the distribution and performance of its business, and the 
keeping and use of its records and property. And these officers 



68 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

have a large measure of authority and discretion in regard to 
such matters as the making of contracts relating to the business 
of their departments, and in regard to questions of detail aris- 
ing in the performance of duties imposed upon them in general 
terms by the Acts of Congress. 



The Secretary of State is regarded as first in rank 
among the members of the cabinet. He has charge of 
all matters relating to the foreign affairs of the United 
States and its intercourse with foreign nations. It is 
through his office that all treaties are negotiated. He 
has the custody of the great seal of the United States 
and affixes it to many important papers. He also 
keeps the originals of the Constitution and of all laws 
and treaties. (He publishes the laws and other impor- 
tant official documents, countersigns and publishes the 
President's proclamations, and issues passports to 
Americans going abroad. 

The Secretary of the Treasury is charged with the 
management of the national finances. He superin- 
tends the collection of the revenue, receives and dis- 
burses the public money, and prepares plans for the 
improvement of the revenue and the support of the 
public credit. He also controls the construction of 
public buildings and the coinage and printing of money. 
His department contains a number of bureaus charged 
with important duties. Among them are the bureaus 
of Customs, Internal Revenue, Engraving and Print- 
ing, War Risk Insurance, Federal Farm Loan Bureau, 
Supervising Architect of the Treasury, and the Comp- 
troller of the Currency. The Treasury Department 
also has charge of the postal savings system, the United 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 69 

States Coast Guard, the mints, and the public health 
service. 

The Secretary of War performs such duties as the 
President may enjoin upon him concerning the military 
service. He has supervision of all purchases of army 
supplies, of all expenditures for the army and of the 
Military Academy at West Point, and of all matters 
relating to river and harbor improvements. 

The Secretary of the Navy performs such duties as 
the President may assign to him concerning the naval 
service, and has general superintendence of the con- 
struction, manning, armament, equipment, and em- 
ployment of the country's war ships. 

The Secretary of the Interior is charged with the 
supervision of public business relating to the general 
land office (the use and disposition of the public lands 
of the United States), Indian affairs, the patent office, 
the bureau of education, the pension office, the Geo- 
logical Survey, the bureau of mines, the reclamation 
service, and the national parks. 

The Postmaster General was provided for by an 
Act of Congress as early as 1794, but did not then 
take rank with the heads of departments, and did not 
become a member of the cabinet until 1825. He and 
his assistants have general charge and control of the 
domestic and foreign mail service, including the post 
offices throughout the country and the collection, trans- 
portation, and distribution of the mails, and he makes 
postal arrangements with foreign governments. 

The Attorney General is the chief law officer of the 
government. His office was created in 1789, and was 



70 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

raised to the rank of an executive department (the 
Department of Justice) in 1870, at which time all law 
officers then attached to the other departments were 
placed under his supervision. He conducts suits in 
the Supreme Court in which the United States is a 
party, and gives advice on questions of law when it is 
required by the President or the heads of the other 
departments. He has direction and control over the 
United States district attorneys, and through them 
conducts investigations, brings and maintains suits 
where the interests of the government are concerned, 
and prosecutes all criminal offenses against the laws of 
the United States. 

The Secretary of Agriculture is charged with the 
supervision of all public business relating to the de- 
velopment and improvement of the country's greatest 
industry, that of agriculture or farming, such as the 
procuring and distributing of information on agricul- 
tural subjects, and the testing and distributing of new 
and valuable plants and seeds. Among the bureaus 
in his department are those of agricultural chemistry, 
of soils, of entomology, of the biological survey, of 
crop estimates, of public roads, of markets, of animal 
industry, of plant industry, and the federal horticul- 
tural board. He also has charge of the weather bu- 
reau, and of the national forest service. (There are 
about 150 well-timbered regions on the public lands of 
the United States which have been set apart under the 
name of "national forests." ) 

The Secretary of Commerce is concerned with mat- 
ters affecting the business, industrial, and economic in- 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 71 

terests of the country. He has charge of the census, 
of the lighthouse service, of the steamboat inspection 
service, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Other 
important bureaus in his department are those of for- 
eign and domestic commerce, of navigation, of stand- 
ards, and of fisheries. This department was created 
in 1903 as the Department of Commerce and Labor, 
but a separate Department of Labor was established in 

I9I3- 

The Secretary of Labor has charge of all govern- 
mental matters relating to the interests of the working 
people of the country. The purpose of his depart- 
ment, as stated in the law creating it, is "to foster, 
promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners 
of the United States, to improve their working condi- 
tions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable 
employment." In addition to this, he has general 
charge of the enforcement of the laws relating to 
immigration and to the naturalization of foreigners. 

137. Reprieves and Pardons. — The President 
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. 

This power relates only to cases of convictions in 
the United States Courts. 

A reprieve is a suspension for a time of the execution of a 
sentence. 
A pardon is a release from punishment for a crime. 

138. Treaties. — The President shall have power 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to 



72 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

make treaties with foreign nations, provided two-thirds 
of the Senators present concur. 

Although a treaty, when concluded, becomes the law of the 
land, the power of making treaties is not properly a legislative 
power, but belongs to the political department of the govern- 
ment, that is, the executive. For this reason it is confided to 
the President. But in the hands of one man this great power 
might be perverted, through his unwisdom or disloyalty, with 
destructive consequences to the country. So a check is placed 
upon it by requiring the ratification of the Senate. But the 
power of initiating a treaty belongs to the President. He alone 
has the right to determine whether any treaty shall be made 
with any given foreign power. The Senate might advise him 
to make such a treaty, but he would not be bound to heed its 
recommendations. 

It is customary for the President, acting personally or more 
usually through the State Department, to negotiate a treaty with 
a foreign power until all its details are completed. He rarely 
asks the advice of the Senate in advance. Almost always he 
submits the treaty to the Senate only when it is all finished and 
signed or ready to be signed. Then the Senate considers it, 
first by its Committee on Foreign Relations and then as a 
whole. It may reject the treaty outright or accept it as it 
stands. But it is not accepted (or ratified) unless two-thirds of 
the Senators present in the Senate when the vote is taken shall 
vote in favor of it. The Senate can also propose amendments to 
the treaty or reservations or additions to it or omissions. But 
the President is not bound to agree to such changes unless he is 
willing. There have been cases where the Senate made such 
changes in a proposed treaty that the President withdrew it 
and let it lapse, foreseeing that the foreign power would not 
accept it as amended. 

139. Appointments. — The President shall nomi- 
nate and, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, appoint ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 73 

other officers of the United States whose appointments 
are not otherwise provided for. 

In the matter of appointments the Senate is a check 
to the President. Knowing that his nominations will 
be examined closely by the Senate he will naturally 
make careful selections. 

A public (foreign) minister is an agent commissioned to 
reside at the capital of a foreign nation as the representative 
of his government in its intercourse with the government of 
such foreign nation. 

The foreign ministers of the United States are of three 
grades: ambassadors, ministers plenipotentiary (with full 
powers), and ministers resident. The name ambassador was 
first applied to United States ministers in 1893, when by Act 
of Congress the President was authorized to direct that our 
representatives to foreign governments should bear the same 
designation as the representatives of such governments in the 
United States. Our government sends (or has sent) ambas- 
sadors to the following countries: Austria, Argentina, Belgium, 
Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, 
Mexico, Peru, Russia, Spain, and Turkey. In some other 
countries, our government is represented by ministers plenipo- 
tentiary, and in others (now only Liberia) by a minister resi- 
dent. The salary of an ambassador is $17,500 a year, that of a 
minister plenipotentiary, from $10,000 to $12,000, that of a min- 
ister resident, $5,000. 

Consuls-general are diplomatic officers charged with the super- 
vision of all the consuls of their government in the countries 
to which they are sent. Consuls are commercial agents of the 
government, who reside generally at the seaports of foreign na- 
tions to take care of the commercial interests of their country 
and its citizens. 

In considering treaties and the fitness of nominations the 
Senate meets in "executive session," when the proceedings are 
conducted in secret. Such sessions are termed executive because 
they relate to executive rather than legislative business. 

The President does not appoint all the officers and employees 
of the government. The Constitution says that Congress may 



74 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

invest the appointment of inferior officers in the President alone 
(that is, without requiring the consent of the Senate) or in 
the courts of law or in the heads of departments, that is, the 
cabinet ministers. Great numbers of inferior officers are ap- 
pointed in this way. Notice that only two officers of the execu- 
tive branch of the United States government are elected by the 
people, namely, the President and Vice President ; all the rest 
are appointed. This is thought to promote efficiency in gov- 
ernment, since it fixes responsibility. On the other hand, in 
the governments of the States, cities, and countries, most of the 
important officers are voted for and elected. 

The Civil Service Commission, created by an Act of Congress 
in 1883, was intended to provide a body of civil officers selected 
solely for competence and fitness and not for political reasons, 
and to protect them from removal or discharge for merely 
political causes. The Commission holds competitive examina- 
tions and certifies lists of persons shown thereby to be eligible, 
from among whom the appointments are to be made. The 
"classified civil service," as it is called, now includes practically 
all the clerks and subordinate officers of the government, but not 
of course the army and navy, and not those higher officers 
whose close relation to the administration requires them to be 
in political sympathy with it. 

140. President's Message. — The Constitution 
directs that the President "shall from time to time give 
to the Congress information of the state of the Union, 
and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall judge necessary and expedient." The 
President's message is the document in which he thus 
gives to Congress a view of the foreign relations and 
domestic situation of the country and a general account 
of the operations of the government, and recommends 
to them the enactment of such laws as he thinks are 
necessary and desirable. 

The President annually, at the beginning of each 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 7S 

session, either goes to the Capitol and reads his mes- 
sage to Congress assembled in joint session, or else 
sends it by a messenger from the White House. He 
also sends (or reads) special messages when he judges 
it necessary. 

141. Extra Sessions. — The President may call ex- 
tra sessions of Congress on extraordinary occasions, 
that is, when in his judgment the public interests so 
require. 

142. Adjournment. — When the two Houses of 
Congress cannot agree as to the time of adjournment, 
the President may adjourn them to such time as he 
shall think proper. 

143. To Receive Ambassadors and Other Pub- 
lic Ministers. — A foreign minister on his arrival at 
Washington presents himself, with his credentials, at 
the executive mansion, where he is formally received 
by the President. Until this ceremony has taken place 
he. can do no formal official act. 

In case of revolution or other radical change of government 
in a foreign country, or where rival governments exist there, no 
ambassador or minister from that country will be "received" 
(accepted and recognized) by the President until he is satis- 
fied that the government which sends him is the lawfully estab- 
lished government of that country. When so satisfied, he 
"recognizes" that government as the lawful government and 
receives its diplomatic representative. Hence this power given 
to the President by the Constitution may involve the determina- 
tion, by him alone, of very grave and delicate questions in the 
foreign relations of the country. Its exercise requires great 
caution, discretion, and judgment. 

144. Execution of the Laws. — The great duty of 
the President is to "take care that the laws be faith- 



76 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

fully executed." The "laws" include the Constitution, 
acts of Congress, and the obligations of treaties. 

The legislative branch of government having made laws, it 
is the duty of the executive branch to enforce them and carry 
them into effect. The powers granted to the President enable 
him to discharge this duty. He appoints and commissions all 
the more important officers of the United States, and is com- 
mander in chief of the army and navy. He is also assisted 
by the heads of the ten executive departments, who are the 
members of his cabinet. "These," it is said, "aid him in the 
performance of the great duties of his office, and represent him 
in a thousand acts to which it can hardly be supposed his per- 
sonal attention is called." And for enforcing the civil and 
criminal laws, he has at his command the vast machinery of 
the Department of Justice, with its district attorneys and mar- 
shals and other officers throughout the country. 

Section III. Removal from Office. 

145. Removal. — The President and all civil offi- 
cers may be removed from office on impeachment for 
and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes 
and misdemeanors. 

Bribery, as used here, is the act of a public officer in taking 
a reward for using his official position to the advantage of some 
one. 

What constitute high crimes and misdemeanors is left to the 
Senate, when sitting as a court of impeachment, to decide, which 
would probably be done by referring to the common law. 

ARTICLE III. 

THE judicial department. 

Section I. United States Courts. 

146. Judicial Power. — The judicial power of the 
United States is vested in one Supreme Court and in 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 77 

such inferior courts as Congress may from time to 
time ordain and establish. 

147. Duty of the Judiciary, — The duty of the 
judicial department is to interpret or explain the laws 
and apply them to particular cases or controversies 
coming before them, and also to decide whether they 
are such as the legislative authority could rightly make, 
having regard to the provisions and limitations of the 
Constitution. 

This power of decision is exercised when, in cases that come 
before the court for decision, one of the parties denies the con- 
stitutionality of a law. If the judges, on examining the law 
and comparing it with the Constitution, find its enactment to 
have been within the legislative authority, it remains in force 
and must be obeyed ; but if not, they declare it is not a law, 
and it becomes void and of no effect. This power of the judi- 
ciary is another check to hasty legislation, and is the special 
means of protecting the rights and liberties of the citizens 
against all tyranny or abuse of power. The historian Fiske 
has said: "In this supreme exercise of jurisdiction our highest 
federal tribunal is unlike any other known to history. The 
Supreme Court is the most original of all American institutions. 
It is peculiarly American, and for its exalted character and 
priceless services it is an institution of which Americans may 
well be proud." 

148. Supreme Court. — The Supreme Court is 
composed of one Chief Justice and eight Associate 
Justices. The salary of the Chief Justice is $15,000 
a year, and that of each of the Associate Justices 
$14,500 a year. The court holds one regular session 
each year at the capital, beginning the second Monday 
in October. 

As the Supreme Court is created by the Constitution itself, 
it is to a large extent independent of Congress. That body 



78 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

could not abolish it, nor create a court of higher jurisdiction 
or powers, nor deprive the Supreme Court of any part of the 
jurisdiction which the Constitution gives to it. But Congress 
may and does fix the number of justices who shall compose it. 

149. Inferior Courts. — The judicial system of the 
United States, inferior to the Supreme Court, created 
by various Acts of Congress, is as follows : 

Circuit Courts of Appeals. These courts were created in 189 1 
for the relief of the Supreme Court, which was overburdened 
with work. In each of the nine circuits into which the country 
is divided, the Supreme Court justice attached to that circuit 
and the Circuit Judge constitute a Circuit Court of Appeals, 
which can review on appeal the final decisions of the District 
Courts, except in certain cases which must be directly reviewed 
by the Supreme Court. There are thirty-three Circuit judges, 
and the salary of each is $8,500 a year. 

The District Courts. In the federal system these are the 
courts of general original jurisdiction, that is, courts in which 
suits and prosecutions are begun and tried, as distinguished 
from courts which review cases on appeal. The jurisdiction 
of the District Courts extends to practically every kind of suit 
or criminal case which can be brought under the Constitution 
and laws of the United States, besides admiralty and maritime 
cases and proceedings in bankruptcy. At present the country 
is divided into about eighty districts, each having a court and 
a District judge, and some of them have more than one judge, 
as in the case of the southern district of New York, which in- 
cludes the City of New York and has four District judges. 
There are now ninety-seven United States District judges, ex- 
clusive of those in the Territories, each of whom receives a 
salary of $7,500 a year. 

District Courts in the Territories. In the Territory of Hawaii 
there is a District Court with two judges, and the same in 
Alaska, and in Porto Rico there is a District Court with one 
judge. Each of these judges receives an annual salary of 
$7,500. 

The Court of Claims. This court, consisting of a Chief Jus- 
tice at a yearly salary of $8,000, and four Associate Judges at 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 79 

$7,500 each, was created to hear and determine claims against 
the United States government which could not be otherwise 
adjusted without much delay and injustice. The government 
could not be sued by a private claimant without its own 
consent, which it has given in the law creating this court and 
in other acts. Congress appropriates the money to pay all 
the judgments rendered against the United States in this court. 

Court of Customs Appeals. This court was created in 1909. 
It consists of one Presiding Judge and four Associate Judges 
at an annual salary of $8,500 each. It hears and decides ques- 
tions as to the classification of dutiable goods under the tariff 
law and the rates imposed upon them. Cases are appealed from 
the Collector of Customs to the Board of Appraisers, and then 
to the Court of Customs Appeals. Formerly cases had to pass 
from the Board of Appraisers through several intermediate 
appellate tribunals to the Supreme Court. 

United States Court for China. Created by Act of Congress 
June 30, 1906. It is located at Shanghai, and has jurisdiction 
of criminal charges against American citizens and of civil 
cases in which they are parties. It has one judge, appointed 
by the President for a term of ten years (unless sooner removed 
by the President) at a yearly salary of $8,000. 

Consular Courts are sometimes held by United States Consuls 
in certain foreign countries to decide cases which arise in com- 
mercial transactions between American citizens and foreigners. 

Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. This consists 
of a Chief Justice and "five Associate Justices, each receiving 
an annual salary of $7,500. It is the court of general original 
jurisdiction (see the explanation of this phrase in what is 
said above about the United States District Courts), and be- 
sides this it has the jurisdiction of a District Court in matters 
arising under federal law. 

Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. This court, 
created in 1893, consists of one Chief Justice and two Associate 
Justices, appointed by the President and holding office during 
good behavior, at an annual salary of $8,500 each. It has ap- 
pellate jurisdiction over the Supreme Court of the District of 
Columbia, and also such jurisdiction, in federal matters, as 
belongs to the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals. 

Courts abolished. From 1789 to 1912 there was a Circuit 



80 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Court in each of the nine circuits, which divided original juris- 
diction with the District Courts and in some cases had appel- 
late jurisdiction over them. But after the creation of the 
Circuit Courts of Appeals it seemed unnecessary to continue the 
existence of the Circuit Courts, and in the reorganization of the 
federal judiciary effected by the Federal Judicial Code, taking 
effect January i, 1912, they were abolished. The Commerce 
Court was created by Congress in 1910, and was composed of 
five judges designated by the Chief Justice from among the 
Circuit judges of the United States. The duties of this court 
were connected with the regulation of commerce and the rul- 
ings of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It was abolished 
December 31, 1913. The Court of Private Land Claims was 
established in 1891 to settle such claims of persons and cor- 
porations to lands within the territory acquired from Mexico 
as the United States was bound to recognize by virtue of the 
treaties of cession. It ceased to exist on June 30, 1903. 

150. Term of Office and Salaries. — United States 
judges hold their office during good behavior, and 
their salaries cannot be diminished during their con- 
tinuance in office. 

The judges, both of the Supreme Court and the inferior 
courts, hold their office during good behavior, that is, they 
cannot be removed from office except by impeachment for mis- 
conduct. They have thus practically a tenure for life, and it 
is in order that they may be independent in their decisions. If 
they could be removed at the pleasure of the appointing power, 
or if they held their places by vote of the people for a limited 
period, they might be inclined to shape their decisions so as to 
prevent removal or secure re-election, without due regard to 
the claims of justice. But a justice of the Supreme Court who 
has reached the age of seventy years and who has served for 
ten years, may voluntarily resign and receive the full salary 
during the remainder of his life. 

The salaries of United States judges cannot be diminished 
while they are in office, and this is because, in interpreting the 
laws, they might, by their decisions, incur the enmity of Con- 
gress, and if Congress had the power to reduce their salaries, 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 81 

it might take that way of punishing them. Every department of 
the government should be, as far as possible, independent of 
the others. 

Section II. Jurisdiction, and Trial of Crimes. 

151. Jurisdiction. — The judicial power of the 
United States extends to all cases in law and equity- 
arising under the Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made under their authority, to 
cases affecting foreign ambassadors, ministers, and 
consuls, to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction, to controversies to which the United States is 
a party, to controversies between two or more States, 
or between citizens of different states, or between a 
State or citizens thereof and foreign states, citizens, or 
subjects. 

"Jurisdiction" means the extent of the authority of a govern- 
ment or a court. A court in which a suit may originate or a 
trial commence is said to have original jurisdiction. A court 
which has the power to review the decision of a lower court in 
cases appealed therefrom has appellate jurisdiction. 

Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction includes cases arising on 
the sea or other navigable waters, or connected with ships and 
seamen; as, collisions, suits to recover the wages of seamen, 
and contracts for carrying freight. The word admiralty is de- 
rived from admiral, an officer of high rank in the navy. Ad- 
miralty courts in England had jurisdiction in cases connected 
with war ships, and maritime courts in cases relating to mer- 
chant ships. 

Aside from admiralty and maritime cases, there are two great 
sources of jurisdiction of the United States courts. First, cases 
arising under the Constitution (that is, involving some right 
or benefit claimed under the Constitution or asserting that 
some law or statute is contrary to the Constitution and there- 
fore invalid) or under the laws of the United States, such as 
the internal revenue or tax laws, the postal laws, the patent 



82 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

and copyright laws, the laws regulating interstate commerce 
and forbidding monopolies, the bankruptcy laws, the immigra- 
tion laws, and the criminal laws. Second, controversies between 
citizens of different States. Here, although the law which is 
to be applied or which is to decide the case may not be a 
United States law, yet if the case is between two or more per- 
sons who are citizens of different States, and if the amount 
involved is more than $3,000, the federal courts will hear and 
decide the case. 



152. Criminal Trials. — 1. The trial of all crimes 
except in cases of impeachment shall be by jury. 

A trial by jury is a trial before twelve impartial 
men, who shall hear the evidence and must decide 
unanimously as to the guilt or innocence of the accused 
before he can be punished or set free. This right is 
one of the great bulwarks of liberty. 

2. Such trials shall be held in the State where said 
crimes are committed. 

This is designed as a benefit to an accused person by 
not subjecting him to the certain expense, and possible 
danger to his interests, that would attend a trial in a 
place distant from his home and friends. 

The trial of crimes not committed in any State shall 
be held where Congress may by law direct. 

By "crimes not committed in any State," are meant 
those committed in the District of Columbia, the Terri- 
tories, the forts and government buildings, and on the 
high seas. Congress has passed laws providing for all 
of these. 

The "high seas" are the waters of the ocean beyond low- 
water mark. Crimes committed on shipboard in these waters 
are tried in the State where the vessel first arrives. 



TREASON 83 

Section III. Treason and its Punishment. 

153. Treason Defined. — Treason against the 
United States shall consist only in levying war against 
them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. 

Levying war is the assembling of armed men for the purpose 
of carrying on war. 

A knowledge and concealment of treason without assenting 
to it is termed misprision of treason, and is punishable by im- 
prisonment not exceeding seven years and a fine not exceeding 
one thousand dollars. 

154. Conviction. — The testimony of two wit- 
nesses to the same overt act, or confession in open 
court is necessary to a conviction of treason. 

Treason is regarded as the highest crime against 
society, since its object is to destroy the government. 
Traitors therefore deserve severe punishment. It is 
well that a crime so odious is so clearly defined, and 
that the clearest proof of its commission is necessary 
to a conviction. 

"An overt act" means a step, motion, or action really taken 
in the execution of a treasonable purpose, as distinguished from 
mere words, and also from a treasonable sentiment, design, or 
purpose not resulting in action. 

155. Punishment. — Congress has power to declare 
the punishment for treason, and has prescribed death 
as the extreme penalty for that offence, but a less pun- 
ishment may be inflicted. At the discretion of the 
court, the traitor may be imprisoned for not less than 
five years, and fined not less than ten thousand dollars. 



84 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ARTICLE IV 

RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

Section I. State Records. 

156. Public Acts, etc. — Each State must give full 
faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial 
proceedings of every other State. 

The chief value of this provision is to prevent end- 
less lawsuits. When a case has been decided in one 
State it cannot be reopened by either party in the 
courts of another State. 

Public acts are the Constitution and laws of a State. State 
records are the registered deeds of property, journals of legis- 
latures, etc. Judicial proceedings are the records of courts. 

Section II. Privileges of Citizenship. 

157, State Recognition. — The citizens of each 
State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities 
of citizens in the several States. 

The several States of the Union are not foreign to each 
other, and citizens of one State are not to be treated as for- 
eigners when they go into another. This provision of the Con- 
stitution was meant to prevent the States from making in- 
vidious discriminations against nonresidents, and to promote 
the unification of the American people, by breaking down State 
lines, in respect to the enjoyment of social and business privi- 
leges and the favor and protection of the laws. The "privi-. 
leges and immunities" here spoken of include protection by 
the government; the enjoyment of life and liberty and the 
right to acquire, possess, and dispose of property; the right of 
a citizen of one State to pass freely into, through, and out of 
another State, with his property; to transact business in any 
other State free from any restrictions or burdens which are 
not imposed on its own citizens; to practice his lawful trade or 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES 85 

profession therein; to claim the benefit and protection of its law 
as a safeguard against injustice; and to have free access to 
its courts for the enforcement of his own just claims and 
demands. But this clause of the Constitution does not confer 
upon the citizens of each State the right of voting, of being 
elected, or of holding office in the other States, because these 
are political privileges which each State may justly reserve for 
its own citizens. 

158. Fugitive Criminals. — A person charged 
with crime fleeing from one State into another shall be 
delivered up on demand of the executive authority of 
the State from which he fled. 

Such demand made by the Governor of one State on 
that of another is called a requisition. 

Section III. New States and Territories. 

159. Admission. — New States may be admitted 
into the Union by Act of Congress. 

On coming into the Union, new States are received 
on terms of equality with all other States. 

The steps by which a Territory may become a State are: 

1. A petition to Congress expressing the desire of the people 
for admission. 

2. An enabling act passed by Congress stating the conditions 
of admission. 

3. The adoption of a Constitution and a form of State gov- 
ernment by a convention of delegates chosen by the people. 

4. The ratification of the Constitution and the election of 
State officers by the people. 

5. A proclamation by the President announcing that the Ter- 
ritory has become a State. 

In the enabling act Congress may impose such conditions or 
limitations as it may think necessary. For instance, in the case 
of the admission of New Mexico as a State, it was provided 
that the constitution to be adopted should be republican in form 



86 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States 
or the principles of the Declaration of Independence, that it 
must provide for religious freedom, forbid polygamy and the 
sale of liquor to Indians, renounce all claim to the public lands 
within the boundaries of the Territory, recognize the validity 
of the existing territorial debt, and provide for a system of pub- 
lic schools. Congress may also require (as it did in this case) 
that the new constitution, after being ratified by the people, 
shall be submitted to the President and Congress for their ap- 
proval, and if they do not approve it entirely, amendments may 
be ordered to be submitted to the people and accepted by them 
before proclamation of the admission of the new State shall be 
made. 

1 60. Secession. — Though the Constitution makes 
all necessary provision for the admission of States it 
contains no provision for secession. A State cannot- 
secede from the Union constitutionally. "The Con- 
stitution creates an indissoluble Union of indestructible 
States." — Bancroft. 

161. Formation. — No State shall be formed with- 
in the jurisdiction of any other State, nor shall any 
State be formed by the junction of two or more States, 
or parts of States, without the consent of the legisla- 
tures of the States concerned, as well as of the Con- 
gress. 

Maine, formerly a part of Massachusetts, was per- 
mitted to become a State in 1820 by the joint action of 
Congress and the legislature of the latter State. Ver- 
mont, Kentucky, and West Virginia were also parts of 
other States before their admission. Texas, having 
revolted from Mexico, was an independent republic 
for some time before its admission by annexation. The 
other States which have come into the Union since the 



GUARANTEES TO STATES 87 

ratification of the Constitution were formed from ter- 
ritory belonging to the United States, outside of the 
boundaries of the States. No State has been formed 
by the junction of States or parts of States. 

162. Territories. — The Territories are under the 
control of Congress, which has the power to make all 
needful regulations for their government. They have 
an elective governor and legislature and their own sys- 
tem of courts. 

No Territories now remain within the boundaries of the 
United States proper, or the continental United States. Terri- 
torial governments exist in Alaska and Hawaii, and a form 
of government similar to that of the Territories (except that 
the governor or chief officer is appointed by the President) 
has been established for the outlying possessions of the United 
States, which are Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and the 
island of Guam (ceded by Spain), the Virgin Islands (acquired 
by purchase from Denmark), and the Panama Canal Zone. 

Section IV. Guarantees to the States. 

163. Form of Government. — The United States 
guarantees to the States a republican form of govern- 
ment. 

A republican form of government is one in which the powers 
of sovereignty are vested in the people, and are exercised by 
them through representatives chosen by them, to whom those 
powers are specially delegated. "The distinguishing feature of 
that form is the right of the people to choose their own officers 
for governmental administration, and pass their own laws in 
virtue of the legislative power reposed in representative bodies, 
whose legitimate acts may be said to be those of the people 
themselves." This clause in the Constitution implies both a 
power in the federal authorities to preserve republican govern- 
ments in the several States, and a limitation upon the power 



88 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of the people of each State in forming or amending their State 
constitutions. It not only contains a promise to each State 
that it shall continue to enjoy a republican form of govern- 
ment as long as the Union endures, but also imports a com- 
mand to each State to maintain and preserve that form of 
government, under penalty of the intervention of the federal 
Union for the benefit of all its members. 

164. Protection. — The United States guarantees 
to the States protection against invasion. This power 
of protection is intrusted to the executive. The Presi- 
dent, as commander-in-chief of the military and naval 
forces, may at any time call into service a force suffi- 
cient for the protection of any State or all the States. 

The United States also undertakes to protect the 
States against domestic violence, that is, insurrection, 
riots, or the violence of mobs. But in this case the 
government does not interfere except on the applica- 
tion or request of the legislature of the State, or of the 
Governor, if the legislature is not in session or cannot 
be convened. In other words, the military forces of 
the United States are always available to protect any 
State against invasion by a foreign enemy, but will not 
be sent into a State to put down domestic violence 
unless called for by the State authorities. 

ARTICLE V. 
Mode of Amendment. 

165. Constitution, How Amended. — Amend- 
ments may be proposed by two-thirds of both Houses 
of Congress or by a convention called by Congress on 
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the 



AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION 89 

States. Such amendments must be ratified by the 
legislatures of three-fourths of the States, or by con- 
ventions in three-fourths of the States. 

It will be observed that there are two modes of pro- 
posing and two of ratifying amendments to the Con- 
stitution. The amendments that have been adopted 
were proposed by Congress and ratified by the State 
legislatures. 

When an amendment has been ratified by the requisite num- 
ber of States a proclamation of the Secretary of State announces 
that it has become a part of the Constitution. 

ARTICLE VI. 
Supremacy of the Constitution. 

i 66. Obligations of the Government. — The Con- 
stitution declares the debts contracted and the engage- 
ments entered into before the adoption of the Consti- 
tution valid. 

The object of this provision was to allay the fear 
of public creditors by proclaiming to the world that 
the United States under the new government consid- 
ered itself in honor bound to pay all its debts and to 
keep all its engagements. 

167. Supreme Law.-^-The Constitution and the 
laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof 
and all treaties made under the authority of the United 
States are the supreme law of the land. 

This applies to all the States and to their constitutions and 
laws. No State law can be valid which is contrary to the Con- 
stitution of the United States or to any Act of Congress or any 
treaty, or which encroaches upon the powers granted to the 



90 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

national government. To make sure of this, the Constitution 
further provides that the judges in every State shall be bound 
by the Constitution and laws of the Union, notwithstanding 
anything contrary thereto which may be found in the consti- 
tution or laws of the State. 

1 68. Oath. — The following named officers are re- 
quired to take an oath or affirmation to support the 
Constitution : 

i. Members of Congress. 

2. Members of State Legislatures. 

3. Executive and judicial officers of the United 
States. 

4. Executive and judicial officers of the several 
States. 

This oath or affirmation must be taken by each of 
these officers before he enters on the discharge of his 
duties. 

169. Religious Test. — The Constitution in no 
way interferes with any man's religious faith or wor- 
ship. It forbids the requirement of any religious test 
as a qualification for office under the United States. 
Equality under the law and absolute civil and religious 
freedom are the birthright of every American. 

Religious test means the taking of a test oath to favor cer- 
tain religious opinions as a qualification for office. 

ARTICLE VII. 
Ratification of the Constitution. 

170. Establishment. — The ratification of nine 
States was sufficient for the establishment of the Con- 
stitution. This ratification established for the United 



f* 



BILL OF RIGHTS 91 

States ' 'a government of the people, by the people, and 
for the people." 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

171. Amendment Defined. — An amendment is an 
alteration or change adopted as a remedy for some sup- 
posed defect in the Constitution, or to make some 
addition to it, or change in it, which a sufficient ma- 
jority consider desirable. 

Eighteen amendments have so far been adopted. 
The first ten were proposed almost immediately after 
the formation of the government (in 1789) and rati- 
fied within two years. They were adopted because of 
the prevailing feeling that the Constitution did not 
sufficiently guard the rights of the people. 

172. Bill of Rights. — The first ten amendments 
are regarded as a bill of rights, that is, a formal declar- 
ation of certain rights claimed by the people as essen- 
tial to the protection of their lives, liberty, and prop- 
erty. 

A bill of rights is an enumeration, in brief and plain words, 
of those liberties and immunities of the citizens which the 
framers of the constitution believe to be fundamental, unques- 
tionable, and necessary to the perpetuation of a free govern- 
ment It is not a grant to the citizens of that which they did 
not possess before, but it is their own statement of the rights 
which they already enjoy and which they mean to secure and 
to hand down to their posterity. In a democracy, a bill of 
rights has a special place and importance. In a monarchy, con- 
stitutional guaranties may be needed to curb the power of the 
ruler, and under any form of government it may be thought 
wise to restrict the powers of the legislature. But where the 
whole sovereignty is vested in the people, there are certain funda- 



92 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

mental things which must be made fast and sure, so that, in 
respect to them, the minority may always be protected against 
the otherwise uncontrolled power of the majority. In some of 
the State constitutions it is declared that "absolute, arbitrary 
power over the lives, liberty, and property of freemen exists 
nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority." In 
one of the State constitutions, after an enumeration of the in- 
alienable rights of the people, it is declared that, "to guard 
against transgressions of the high powers which we have dele- 
gated, we declare that everything in this article (the bill of 
rights) is excepted out of the general powers of government and 
shall forever remain inviolate." 



FIRST AMENDMENT. 

173. Freedom of Religion. — The founders of our 
government thought that Church and State should be 
kept separate. This amendment forbids Congress to 
establish a religion or to prohibit the free exercise 
thereof. One of the dearest rights of man is the right 
of private judgment in matters of religion, and free- 
dom of worship according to the dictates of his own 
conscience. In this country a man may hold and prac- 
tice any religion he prefers without having his rights* 
as a citizen thereby impaired. A safe rule for our 
guidance is that left us by Washington: "All those 
who conduct themselves as worthy members of the 
community are equally entitled to the protection of the 
civil government." 

174. Freedom of Speech and of the Press. — The 
Constitution allows every man to speak, and write, 
or print whatever he pleases, provided by so doing he 
does not unjustly injure others. In such case the in- 
jured has a remedy in the laws against slander and 



BILL OF RIGHTS 93 

libel, that is, malicious and untrue statements concern- 
ing one's life and character. 

This constitutional guaranty also secures to the citi- 
zen the right freely to criticise the nature, operations, 
institutions, plans or measures of the government, or 
the conduct of public officers as such, provided only 
that such criticisms are not made with a purpose of 
overthrowing the government or stirring up treason 
or revolution. Every government has the inherent 
right to protect itself against destruction and its people 
against violence. Hence publications or utterances re- 
lating to conspiracies forcibly to subvert all govern- 
ment in general or our own government in particular, 
or tending to incite people to treason or rebellion, or 
instigating revolution and murder, are not within the 
reason which protects the freedom of the press and of 
speech and cannot be justified by it. 

175. Freedom of Assembly and Petition. — Des- 
potic governments have often denied to the people the 
right of assembly, under the pretence of preventing in- 
surrections. Republican government would be a fail- 
ure if citizens had not the right of assembling for the 
discussion of questions of public interest. No people 
who are worthy of any of the privileges of freemen 
will ever surrender this inestimable right. 

Americans may assemble for any purpose, but the 
assembling must be peaceable. There is no encourage- 
ment here for riotous meetings or mobs. They must 
be dispersed. 

The right of petition is a necessary accompaniment 
to the rights of free speech and free assembly. 



94 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

SECOND AMENDMENT. 

176. Freedom to Keep and Bear Arms. — This 
right is fundamental. Without it the people would be 
powerless in the presence of any organized attempt to 
deprive them of their liberties by force. This pro- 
vision does not prevent the enactment of laws forbid- 
ding the carrying of concealed weapons. 

THIRD AMENDMENT. 

177. Freedom from Compulsory Quartering of 
Soldiers. — By "quartering" is meant feeding and lodg- 
ing. Before the Revolution the British Parliament 
passed a law known as the "Quartering Act/' requir- 
ing the colonists to find quarters for soldiers. 

FOURTH AMENDMENT. 

178. Freedom from Unreasonable Searches and 
Seizures. — This amendment guarantees the right of 
the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. 
It is intended as a protection against the government 
and all who act or claim to act under its authority. 
"Unreasonable" here means arbitrary, unlicensed, or 
not warranted by law. The citizen is thus protected 
against — 

1. All unauthorized intrusion into his dwelling 
house by officers or agents of the government. 

2. The searching of his house for particular arti- 
cles supposed to be in it, or for the purpose of discover- 
ing a crime or the evidence of it, except when this is 



BILL OF RIGHTS 95 

done under the authority of a "search warrant/' which 
is a written order from a judge or magistrate, based 
on evidence presented to him, authorizing an officer of 
the law to enter and search the premises, and which 
must particularly describe the place to be searched and 
the persons or things to be seized. 

3. The search of his person or clothing, except 
when he is lawfully under arrest or charged with crime. 

4. The compulsory production of his books or 
papers to be used as evidence against him. 

5. The unlicensed examination of the contents of 
letters or sealed packages placed by him in the mails. 

FIFTH AMENDMENT. 

179. The Right not to be Tried for Crime un- 
less on a Presentment or Indictment of a Grand 
Jury.— 

An indictment is a written accusation of a grand jury, pre- 
pared by a prosecuting officer, stating the offence for which 
the accused is to be tried. 

A presentment is a written accusation of a grand jury founded 
on their own personal knowledge of the facts. 

A grand jury is a body of men, not less than twelve nor more 
than twenty-three, whose duty it is to inquire into charges 
against accused persons and, if justice demands, to find in- 
dictments. No indictment or presentment can be made, except 
by the agreement of at least twelve jurors. 

This amendment does not apply to misdemeanors or petty 
offenses, but only to "a capital or otherwise infamous crime." 
A capital crime is one punishable by death; and an infamous 
crime is one punishable by imprisonment in a State prison or 
penitentiary. The amendment does not apply to ''cases arising 
in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual 
service." Military offenses are tried by military tribunals called 
"courts martial." 



96 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

1 80. Not to be Twice Put in Jeopardy of Life 
or Limb for the Same Offense. — This means that 
after a person accused of crime has been tried and 
either convicted or acquitted of the offense charged, 
he shall not be put to trial or exposed to the danger 
of punishment for the same offense a second time. 

"Jeopardy of life or limb" is an old legal phrase which origi- 
nated probably at a time when certain offenses were punished 
by mutilation, that is, by depriving the offender of a limb. Men 
who had written libels were sometimes punished by the cutting 
off of the offending member, the right hand. But the present 
meaning of the phrase is exposure to loss or injury by any 
legal punishment. 

181. Not to be Compelled to be a Witness 
Against Himself. — This applies only to criminal 
cases. It means that a man who is charged with 
crime cannot be compelled against his own will to 
answer any questions, or to furnish any evidence which 
may tell against him, or to testify as a witness. But 
he may of course make any statement, or testify on 
his trial, if he so desires. More than this, the pro- 
tection of this guaranty is not confined to a criminal 
proceeding against the person himself ; its object is to 
insure that no one shall be compelled, when acting as 
a witness in any investigation, to give testimony which 
might tend to show that he had committed a crime, or 
which might form a link in a chain of evidence against 
him. 

182. Not to be Deprived of Life, Liberty or 
Property without Due Process of Law. — Liberty 
"means not only the right of the citizen to be free from 



BILL OF RIGHTS 97 

the mere physical restraint of his person, as by incar- 
ceration, but the term is deemed to embrace the right 
of the citizen to be free in the enjoyment of all his 
faculties, to be free to use them in all lawful ways, to 
live and to work where he will, to earn his livelihood 
by any lawful calling, to pursue any livelihood or avo- 
cation, and for that purpose to enter into all contracts 
which may be proper, necessary, and essential to his 
carrying out to a successful conclusion the purposes 
above mentioned." 

In judicial proceedings, that is, lawsuits or trials in 
which a man's life, liberty, or property may be in- 
volved, "due process of law" means an orderly pro- 
ceeding adapted to the nature of the case, held before 
a tribunal which has jurisdiction, and which proceeds 
upon notice to the person affected and gives him an 
opportunity to present his claim or defense, and which 
has power to grant the appropriate relief. 

In a wider sense, due process of law has the meaning 
of reasonableness, of liberty limited only by general 
and necessary laws. It secures the individual against 
arbitrary interference on the part of the government 
or its officers. It means that a man's enjoyment and 
exercise of his rights, and his perfect freedom of ac- 
tion and conduct, and the use and disposition of his 
property, shall not be interfered with by law or by the 
government unless some paramount interest of the gen- 
eral public requires its abridgment for the protection 
of other people or for the sake of the general welfare, 
and then only to the extent that is reasonable and 
necessary. 



98 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

183. Not to Have Private Property Taken for 
Public Use without Just Compensation. — The right 
of the government to take land or other private prop- 
erty for public use is called the right of ''eminent do- 
main." It rests on the principle that the right of the 
individual should give way to the public necessity. 
Government frequently exercises this right. If the 
government and the owner cannot agree upon a price, 
a jury is summoned to "assess the damages," that is,/ 
to determine what is a fair price for the property. 

SIXTH AMENDMENT. 

184. The Right of an Accused Person to a 
Speedy and Public Trial. — The trial should be 
speedy, since it would be unjust to keep any one im- 
prisoned before trial a moment longer than neces- 
sary. He might be able to prove his innocence immedi- 
ately. The trial should be public to insure fairness. 

By a "speedy" trial is meant a trial conducted according to 
fixed rules, regulations, and proceedings of law, free from 
vexatious, capricious, and oppressive delays manufactured by 
the ministers of justice. The guaranty of a "public" trial is 
intended to secure to the accused the help and countenance of 
his friends and counsel and of those who could assist him in 
his defense. 

185. To a Trial by a Jury of His State or Dis- 
trict. — This is an additional guard against the hard- 
ship which would result from compelling a person to 
be tried in a place distant from his friends and wit- 
nesses, thereby causing him inconvenience and unneces- 
sary expense. He is to be tried in the State, and if 



BILL OF RIGHTS 99 

the State be divided into judicial districts, in the dis- 
trict in which the crime was committed. 

1 86. To Know of What He is Accused. — He has 
a right to see the indictment that he may intelligently 
prepare his defence. 

187. To be Confronted with the Witnesses 
against Him. — This constitutional guaranty was in- 
tended as a safeguard against secret and inquisitorial 
methods of trial, and to secure to the accused person 
the privilege of sifting and trying the evidence ad- 
duced against him by cross-examination. 

188. To Have the Attendance of Witnesses in 
His Favor Compelled. — He is entitled to bring for- 
ward all available proofs of his innocence. 

The right of an accused person to bring witnesses in his de- 
fense and have them heard was of comparatively recent origin 
in the English law at the time when our Constitution was writ- 
ten. Before that time, the judges would allow witnesses to 
speak of facts which might excuse the prisoner or show that he 
was not guilty, but they were not put under oath, and so their 
statements were not regarded as evidence which the jury should 
take into account. It was not until the beginning of Queen 
Anne's reign that the same privilege in this respect was given 
to the prisoner as to the prosecution. But the recognition of 
this right was regarded as one of the most important reforms 
in criminal procedure, and the right itself was justly considered 
by the framers of our Constitution as one of the most valuable 
guaranties of liberty. The accused person is not forced to de- 
pend on the good will of those whom he wants as witnesses, 
for if they are not willing to come to the trial, the Consti- 
tution says that he shall have "compulsory process" to bring 
them, that is, the court will order them to come. And this 
right of an accused person includes the right to examine such 
witnesses under oath and to compel them to answer all proper 
questions. 



100 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

189. To Have Counsel for His Defense. — 

Counsel is one who gives legal advice and manages 

a case in court; a lawyer. If the accused person is 

too poor to employ counsel, the judge will appoint a 

lawyer to defend him either freely or at the expense of 

the government. 

Under the old English law, an accused person might have 
the benefit of the advice and assistance of counsel, but that 
counsel was not allowed to address the jury in the prisoner's 
behalf, which was grossly unfair and unjust. Under our con- 
stitutional provisions, the right to have the assistance of counsel 
includes the right of the prisoner freely to have interviews and 
consultations with his counsel in private, in order to take his 
advice and instruct him as to the defense to be made. 

SEVENTH AMENDMENT. 

190. The Right of Trial by Jury Where the 
Value in Controversy Exceeds Twenty Dollars. — 

This provision was adopted because of the objection 
that, while the Constitution had provided for the trial 
of crimes by jury, it made no provision for such trial 
in civil cases, which might therefore be held to be 
excluded from that privilege. It seems hardly fair 
to subject the government to the expense of a jury 
trial in suits to recover trifling sums, but so jealous 
are we of the rights of citizens that cases are fre- 
quently tried in our courts where the sum in con- 
troversy is less than the expense of the trial to the 
government. 

The Seventh Amendment applies only to the courts of the 
United States, including those of the District of Columbia, and 
not to the States and their courts. But the constitutions of 
most of the States contain provisions for preserving the right 
of trial by jury. According to the language of the Amend- 



BILL OF RIGHTS 101 

ment, it is "in suits at common law" that this right is guar- 
antied. This means, on the one hand, civil suits as distin- 
guished from criminal cases, and, on the other hand, such suits 
as are to be tried in the ordinary law courts, as distinguished 
from equity cases and admiralty cases. 

Law may be divided into two kinds, — the unwritten or com- 
mon law, and the written or statute law. The common law 
consists of customs and rules of action which derive their au- 
thority from long usage and because they have been recognized 
universally as having the force of law, though not found in 
any act or statute of a law-making body. The common law 
was brought from England by the colonists and established 
here as the basis of law in all the States except Louisiana. The 
Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the 
several States contain many common law principles. The prin- 
ciples of the common law are found in the records of courts, 
in books m which the decisions of judges are recorded, and 
in the writings of men learned in the law which have come 
down to us from former times. In cases of doubt It is for the 
judges in the several courts of justice to decide what is the 
common law. 

igi. To Have Facts Finally Determined by a 
Jury Trial. — It is the duty of the judge to determine 
the law, and that of the jury to determine the facts 
in a case. This provision was inserted because it was 
feared that in cases in which an appeal had been taken 
from the decision of a lower court to the Supreme 
Court, the latter, under the power given by the Con- 
stitution, might overthrow the decisions of juries as 
to matters of fact, and so reduce trial by jury to a 
mere form. 

EIGHTH AMENDMENT. 

192. Not to be Required to Furnish Excessive 
Bail. — Bail is a sum required to be pledged* as security 



102 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

for the appearance of an accused person in court when 
summoned for trial. This term is also used to desig- 
nate the person who gives the security. Excessive bail 
is a sum larger than is necessary to secure the ap- 
pearance of the accused. 

The privilege of being admitted to bail (being released from 
custody on furnishing bail) can always be claimed as a right 
where the crime charged against the prisoner is of a minor or 
less serious sort. But where it is a capital offense (punishable 
by death) bail may be refused in the discretion of the judge. 
Many of the State constitutions say that bail may be refused in 
such cases where the guilt of the prisoner is evident or the 
presumption against him is great. 

193. Not to Hav£ Excessive Fines Imposed. — 

Fines are sums of money exacted as punishment for 
offences against the laws. The laws regulate the 
amount of fines for offences so punishable. The 
amount of fine to be imposed, within the limits of the 
law, is left to the discretion of the judge. 

194. Not to Suffer Cruel or Unusual Punish- 
ments. — This was intended to exclude all such bar- 
barous punishments as torture, burning, branding, mu- 
tilation, the pillory, and the like, and also all punish- 
ments which are so disproportioned to the offense as 
to shock the moral sense. It does not apply to the 
ordinary methods of punishment, such as death by 
hanging or by electrocution, pecuniary fines, impris- 
onment, disfranchisement, or the forfeiture of civil 
rights. But even an ordinary form of punishment, 
if inflicted upon a person to an excessive extent, may 
become a * "cruel" punishment and so forbidden. 



BILL OF RIGHTS 103 

NINTH AMENDMENT. 

195. Retained Rights. — The enumeration in the 
Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage other rights retained by the people. 

It would be impossible to frame a constitution that 
would state exactly and completely all the rights of the 
people. The object of this amendment was to dispel 
the fears of some that because certain rights are as- 
serted in the Constitution, other rights, not mentioned, 
might be regarded as having been surrendered to the 
general government. 

TENTH AMENDMENT. 

196. Reserved Powers. — This amendment guards 
the rights of the States and the people by limiting the 
powers of the general government to those granted by 
the Constitution. It was designed to allay fears which 
existed, that the National government might exercise 
powers that belonged either to the States or the people. 

ELEVENTH AMENDMENT. 1798. 

197. Judicial Power Limited. — This amendment 
limits the power of the judiciary by providing that no 
person shall bring a suit against a State in the United 
States Courts. 

In 1792, the Supreme Court rendered a decision that a State 
of the Union was liable to be sued, like a private person, by a 
citizen of another State. This was regarded as a serious af- 
front to the dignity and sovereignty of the States and created a 
shock of surprise throughout the country. Particularly the de- 
cision aroused anger in the State of Georgia, which had been. 



104 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the defendant in the action and against which a judgment had 
been given. Its Legislature adopted a resolution that the de- 
cision was unconstitutional and would not be obeyed, and that 
any person who should presume to seize property of the State to 
satisfy the judgment should be guilty of felony and should be 
hanged. The result was the speedy adoption of the Eleventh 
Amendment. 

TWELFTH AMENDMENT. 1804. 

198. Presidential Election. — The object of this 
amendment was to make such changes in the manner 
of electing the President and Vice-President as the 
election of 1800 showed to be necessary. 

Article II., Section 1, Clause 3, provided that each elector 
should vote for two candidates for President. The candidate 
who received the greatest number of votes was to be President, 
if such number were a majority of all the electoral votes, and 
the one having next to the greatest number was to be Vice- 
President. In 1800 it happened that the votes were equally 
divided between Jefferson and Burr. The election therefore de- 
volved upon the House of Representatives where for thirty- 
five ballots, occupying seven days, the vote stood Jefferson 8 
States, Burr 6, divided 2. It was feared that on the fourth of 
March the country would be without a President, but on the 
thirty-sixth ballot the danger was averted by the election of 
Jefferson, he having received the votes of 10 States. 

To prevent such a contest in the future this amendment was 
adopted which provides that the electors shall vote for but one 
candidate for President, and that if there be no choice before 
the fourth of March, the Vice-President shall act as President. 

THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT. 1865. 

FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT. 1868. 

FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT. 1870. 

199. Purpose. — The purpose of these amendments 
was to secure the results of the Civil War, by perma- 



LATER AMENDMENTS 105 

nently abolishing slavery and by extending the protec- 
tion of the Constitution to the civil and political rights 
of the newly emancipated colored race, including the 
right of suffrage. 

200. Slavery. — The abolition of slavery was ef- 
fected by the thirteenth amendment. By the adoption 
of this amendment four million slaves became freemen. 

201. Citizenship. — The fourteenth amendment 
(Section I.) defines citizenship and limits the power of 
the States with respect to the privileges of citizens. 

Section II. establishes a new rule of apportionment 
of Representatives and states the conditions on which 
the basis of representation may be reduced in any 
State. 

202. Due Process of Law. — This amendment also 
provides that no State may deprive any person of life, 
liberty, or property without due process of law. 

Read what was said about the meaning of "liberty" and "due 
process of law" in section 182 of this book. And notice that 
the corresponding clause in the fifth amendment applies only 
to the United States government, while this provision in the 
fourteenth amendment applies to each of the States. 

203. Equal Protection of the Laws. — This 
amendment also declares that no State shall deny to 
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection 
of the laws. This is to prevent legislation for the bene- 
fit of a class at the expense of the rest of the com- 
munity, or the imposition of burdens upon some which 
are not shared by all, or, generally, unjust or arbitrary 
discrimination in the laws. 



106 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

This means that the law, when impartially applied, shall 
operate equally and uniformly upon all persons in similar cir- 
cumstances, and confers like privileges on all who may comply 
with its terms or come within its provisions. No one may be 
made subject to any greater burdens and charges than are im- 
posed on others in the same calling or condition or in like cir- 
cumstances, and no burden can be imposed on one class of per- 
sons which is not, in like conditions, imposed on all other classes. 
And if a law applies to only one class of persons, and imposes 
upon them duties not common to others, there must exist in the 
relation of such persons to the state, to the public, or to indi- 
viduals, some reasonable ground of distinction sufficient to show 
that the classification is not merely personal and arbitrary, or 
else there will be a denial of the equal protection of the law. 

204. Exemption from Punishment for Treason. 

— The object of Section III. was to relieve the in- 
habitants of the States which attempted to secede from 
the Union in 1860-61 from liability to the punish- 
ments for treason prescribed by law. Not one of 
them was ever tried on that charge. This section pro- 
vided no other punishment for those who fought 
against the Union than disability to hold certain offices, 
and this provision was to apply only to those who 
previous to the rebellion had taken an oath as public 
officers to support the Constitution of the United 
States. It was further provided that Congress, by a 
vote of two-thirds of both Houses, might remove such 
disability. Now no citizen is under political disabilities 
because of the part he took in the Civil War. 

' 205. Public Debt. — Section IV. declares that the 
public -debt of the United States shall be paid, but it 
prohibits the payment by the United States or any 
State of debts contracted in aid of the rebellion and 



LATER AMENDMENTS 107 

the payment by either of any claim for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave. 

The "public debt" here mentioned is expressly declared to 
include "debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties 
for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion." Pensions 
are periodical payments by a government for disabilities, such 
as wounds, loss of limbs or health incurred in its service, or 
money paid for past services. No other government ever 
showed such liberality in the payment of pensions to its de- 
fenders as that of the United States. The amount expended 
for this purpose during the year ending July I, 1894, was about 
$140,000,000. On that date there were more than one million 
names on the pension roll. Our government has pensioned not 
only the disabled soldiers of the Civil War and all surviving 
soldiers of previous wars, but the widows of soldiers, and army 
nurses. Liberal provision has been made for soldiers and sail- 
ors wounded or otherwise injured in the Great War of 1914- 
1918, and for the surviving relatives of those who were killed, 
under a system of "compensations" (pensions under another 
name) and the system of War Risk Insurance. 

206. Suffrage. — The fifteenth amendment guards 
the right of suffrage granted to the freedmen. The 
qualifications of voters are under the control of the 
States, except as limited by the Constitution of the 
United States. This amendment limits the power of 
the States over the suffrage. 

SIXTEENTH AMENDMENT. 1913. 

207. Income Tax. — This amendment gives to 
Congress the power to lay and collect a tax on in- 
comes, from whatever source derived, without the ne- 
cessity of apportioning it among the States, and with- 
out regard to any census or enumeration. 



108 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

The Constitution provided that "direct taxes shall be appor- 
tioned among the several States which may be included within 
this Union, according to their respective numbers," that is, their 
population. (Art. I, sec. 2.) Also, that "no capitation or other 
direct tax shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or 
enumeration herein before directed to be taken." (Art. I, 
sec. 9.) An Act of Congress passed in 1894, levying a general 
income tax, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court 
because it was not apportioned among the States nor laid in 
proportion to the census of population. The court said that an -v 
income tax was a "direct" tax when the income taxed was de- 
rived from certain sources, such as rents of property or income 
from investments, though it might not be a direct tax when 
the income came from such sources as business transactions or 
a salary or wages. Now it would be practically impossible to 
apportion a general income tax among the States, because it 
would be necessary to fix the total amount to be raised and 
then to direct that a certain fraction of that total should be 
raised in New York, and another fraction in Pennsylvania, and 
another in California, and so on through the States according 
to their respective populations. Congress still had the power 
to lay a tax on incomes derived from a few sources, without 
any apportionment, as it would not be a direct tax in those 
cases. But this would have been wholly unsatisfactory and in- 
sufficient. So the sixteenth amendment was adopted, which dis- 
penses with the necessity of apportionment of an income tax, 
no matter from what source the income was derived. It re- 
peals the earlier provisions of the Constitution, quoted above, so 
far as regards an income tax, but not as to other direct taxes. 

SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENT. 1913. 

208. Popular Election of Senators. — This 
amendment provides that the United States Senators 
from each State shall be elected directly by the peo- 
ple of the State, instead' of by the Legislature of the 
State as before. 

It was adopted because of the belief of many people that Sena- 
tors were able to secure their election by bribery or other cor- 



CITIZENSHIP 109 

rupt dealings with the members of the State Legislatures, 
which would not be possible if their election depended upon the 
vote of the whole people of the State. 

EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT. 1919. 

209. National Prohibition. — This amendment 
prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale, trans- 
portation, and traffic in intoxicating liquors in the 
United States and all territory subject to the jurisdic- 
tion thereof. 

CITIZENSHIP. 

210. Rights of American Citizens. — The prin- 
ciple announced in the Declaration of Independence, 
that all men are created equal and that they are en- 
dowed with inalienable rights, among which are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, applies to all per- 
sons in the United States. The lives, liberty, and 
property of all are equally under the protection of 
the law. All have the right to improve their physical, 
mental, and moral powers; to use and enjoy whatever 
they have lawfully acquired and to dispose of the 
same in any way they think best. The American citi- 
zen may claim the protection of the Constitution of 
the United States as the supreme law of the land, 
and the rights and liberties secured to him by the con- 
stitution and laws of his own State. He cannot be 
enslaved nor held to involuntary servitude except as a 
punishment for crime after due conviction. His privi- 
leges and immunities as a citizen of the United States 
shall not be abridged* by any State, and as a citizen 
of a State he is entitled to the privileges and immuni- 



110 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ties of citizens in all the States. He shall not be de- 
prived of his life, his liberty, or his property without 
due process of law. He shall enjoy the protection of 
the law equally with all others within the jurisdic- 
tion. The government shall not take away his prop- 
erty for any private use, nor even for a public use 
without just compensation. Taxation which affects 
him must be equal and uniform. He shall be free to 
choose his occupation, to pursue his happiness in all 
lawful ways, and to make his contracts as he may de- 
sire, and the obligation of them shall not be impaired 
by law. Every one may worship God according to 
the dictates of his own conscience, and he cannot be 
deprived of any right of a citizen on account of his 
religious sentiments or mode of worship. He may 
speak, and write or publish his thoughts and opinions 
on any subject, being responsible only for the abuse 
of this liberty. He has a right to privacy in his home 
and to freedom from unreasonable searches and seiz- 
ures of his person, his house, his papers and all his 
possessions. Every citizen may travel throughout the 
whole extent of the country in perfect security, so 
far as the laws are concerned. The American citizen 
carries the protection of his government with him, 
wherever he may go upon the world's broad highways ; 
and if, in journeying in a foreign land, he receive any 
indignity, he may invoke for his aid and protection, 
if necessary, the whole power, civil and military, of 
his government. He is free to decide for whom he 
will vote for public office, and may himself aspire to 
any position within the gift of the people. He may 



CITIZENSHIP 111 

establish his home and follow his vocation whereso- 
ever he chooses, and is at liberty to change either or 
both at his convenience. For all injuries and wrongs 
he may receive in his person, property, or reputation 
he has a remedy in the laws as interpreted by free, 
impartial, and independent judges, and is entitled to 
receive right and justice freely, fully, and without de- 
lay. If accused of any offence against the laws, he 
is presumed innocent until proved guilty, and he may 
use all the forms of legal procedure to establish his 
innocence. If found guilty, no cruel or unusual pun- 
ishment can be inflicted on him, but only a penalty 
proportioned to the offence. Every one who pos- 
sesses property may order to whom it shall go at his 
decease, after all just claims on his estate have been 
satisfied. 

From our review of the nature of our government, 
the provisions of the Constitution, and the rights of 
citizenship, we conclude that there can be no better po- 
litical condition for man than that of an American 
citizen. 

211. Spirit of American Democracy. — The de- 
velopment of government in the United States, based 
as it is upon a Constitution which firmly secures the 
rights and liberties of the citizens and justly appor- 
tions the powers of government, has evolved the spe- 
cific thing known as American democracy. Its true 
principles are these: That government exists for the 
sake of the governed, and not vice versa; that all just 
government recognizes and is based upon the equal 
rights of all citizens to liberty and the pursuit of hap- 



112 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

piness; that the immunities of the people are not the 
gift of the state; but on the contrary, the powers of 
the state are the gift of the people; that no deposit 
of unrestrained power can be made either in the state, 
in any of its organs, or in the will of a numerical 
majority, without putting the just. liberty of men in 
peril; that democracy, viewed as a social as well as a 
political order, must know no distinctions of class, 
creed, or possessions, but must secure inviolably to 
every one that which is justly his own; that no man or 
set of men are entitled to exclusive public emoluments 
or to exemption from the laws which bind all alike ; and 
that all government should be maintained and con- 
tinued only on the basis of just and salutary laws con- 
stitutionally ordained, impartially enforced, and faith- 
fully obeyed. 

212. Duties of the Citizen. — Rights and duties 
exist together. The preservation of the former can 
be assured only by the observance of the latter. It 
should be the aim of the citizen to become well ac- 
quainted with the history of his country, the prin- 
ciples upon which its government is founded, and the 
Institutions which have promoted its welfare. He 
should study the great questions of principle and pol- 
icy, which divide the public attention, that he may act 
intelligently upon them; and above all he should cul- 
tivate a high standard of personal morality, for the 
republican system of government is based on the 
golden rule, and he who loves justice, mercy, and 
truth will never consent that his voice and vote shall 
sanction a public wrong. 



CITIZENSHIP 113 

It is the duty of the American citizen to defend 
the Union "to which we owe our safety at home and 
our consideration and dignity abroad" ; to honor the 
Constitution as "the sheet anchor of our liberties"; 
to conscientiously obey the laws of the land, and to 
aid, when necessary, in their just and equal enforce- 
ment; to encourage honor and purity in the admin- 
istration of the government by using his influence to 
place honest, faithful, and capable men in public of- 
fice ; and at all times, in a spirit of love and loyalty, to 
protect the flag of his country as the emblem of lib- 
erty, equal rights, and national unity. 



APPENDIX. 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



IN CONGRESS, JU-LY 4, 1 776. 

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen 
United States of America. 



When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to as- 
sume among the powers of the earth, the separate and 
equal station to which the laws of nature and of na- 
ture's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opin- 
ions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: — that all 
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain unalienable rights; tnat among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; 
that to secure these rights, governments are insti- 
tuted among men, deriving their just powers from 
the consent of the governed; that whenever any form 
of government becomes destructive of these ends, it 
is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and 
to institute a new government, laying its foundation 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 115 

on such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, 
that governments long established should not be 
changed for light and transient causes ; and accord- 
ingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more 
disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to 
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they 
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des- 
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw 
off such government, and to provide new guards for 
their future security. Such has been the patient suf- 
ferance of these colonies, and such is now the neces- 
sity which constrains them to alter their former sys- 
tems of government. The history of the present King 
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and 
usurpations, all having in direct object the establish- 
ment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most whole- 
some and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of 
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended 
in their operation till his assent should be obtained; 
and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to 
attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accom- 
modation of large districts of people, unless those peo- 
ple would relinquish the right of representation in the 



116 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable 
to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places 
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the deposi- 
tory of their public records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, 
for opposing with manly firmness, his invasions on the 
rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such disso- 
lutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the leg- 
islative powers, incapable of annihilation, have re- 
turned to the people at large for their exercise; the 
State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the 
dangers of invasion from without and convulsions 
within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of 
these States ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for 
naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others 
to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the 
conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by 
refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary 
powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone 
for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and 
payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers, to harass our people and 
eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, stand- 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 117 

ing armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent 
of, and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowl- 
edged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops 
among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish- 
ment for any murders which they should commit on 
the inhabitants of these States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent: 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of 
trial by jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in 
a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbi- 
trary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as 
to render it at once an example and fit instrument 
for introducing the same absolute rule into these colo- 
nies: 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms 
of our governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in 
all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us 



118 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

out of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of 
foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, 
desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circum- 
stances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in 
the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken cap- 
tive on the high seas, to bear arms against their coun- 
try, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, 
and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our 
frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known 
rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of 
all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have peti- 
tioned for redress in the most humble terms: our re- 
peated petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by 
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the 
ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our Brit- 
ish brethren. We have warned them, from time to 
time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an un- 
warrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded 
them of the circumstances of our emigration and set- 
tlement here. We have appealed to their native justice 
and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 119 

ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpa- 
tions, which would inevitably interrupt our connec- 
tions and correspondence. They too have been deaf 
to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We 
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which de- 
nounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold 
the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. 
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United 
States of America, in General Congress assembled, 
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by 
authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly 
publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent States; that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown, and that all political connection between them 
and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved; and that, as free and indepejident 
States, they have full power to levy war, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and 
to do all other acts and things which independent 
States may of right do. And for the support of this 
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of 
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other 
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

New Hampshire. Massachusetts. 

Josiah Bartlett, Samuel Adams, 

William Whipple, John Adams, 

Matthew Thornton. Robert Treat Paine, 



120 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 



Elbridge Gerry. 

Delaware. 
Cesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. 
Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton. 

Rhode Island. 
Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

Connecticut. 
Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. 
William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. 
Richard Stockton, 
John (Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 



Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Virginia. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, Jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. 
William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina. 
Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. 
Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



CONSTITUTION 121 

Great Britain formally acknowledged the inde- 
pendence of the United States by a treaty signed at 
Paris, September 3, 1783. 

CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



PREAMBLE. 

WE, the people of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain 
and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section i. All legislative powers herein granted 
shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, 
which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of members chosen every second year by the 
people of the several States, and the electors in each 
State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors 
of the most numerous branch of the State Legisla- 
ture. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not 
have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been 



lm HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

seven years a citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State 
in which he shall be chosen. 

[Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor- 
tioned among the several States which may be in- 
cluded within this Union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole number of free persons, including those bound 
to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.] The ac- 
tual enumeration shall be made within three years after 
the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, 
and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such 
manner as they shall by law direct. The number of 
Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each State shall have at least one Repre- 
sentative; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York 
six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, 
South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

(The clause within brackets was modified by the 14th and 
16th amendments.) 

When vacancies happen in the representation from 
any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their 
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 



CONSTITUTION 123 

Sect. 3. The Senate of the United States shall 
be composed of two Senators from each State [chosen 
by the legislature thereof] for six years ; and each Sen- 
ator shall have one vote. 

(The clause within brackets was changed by the 17th amend- 
ment.) 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in con- 
sequence of the first election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of 
the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the 
expiration of the second year, of the second class at 
the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third 
class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one- 
third may be chosen every second year; [and if vacan- 
cies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the executive 
thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill 
such vacancies]. 

(The clause within brackets was changed by the 17th amend- 
ment.) 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for 
which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless 
they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and 
also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the 



124 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMEN 

Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of 
President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all 
impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they 
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall 
preside: and no person shall be convicted without the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualifi- 
cation to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, 
or profit under the United States : but the party con- 
victed shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to in- 
dictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according 
to law. 

Sect. 4. The times, places, and manner of hold- 
ing elections for Senators and Representatives shall be 
prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof ; but 
the Congress may at any time by law make or alter 
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday 
in December, unless they shall by law appoint a dif- 
ferent day. 

Sect. 5. Each House shall be the judge of the 
elections, returns, and qualifications of its own mem- 
bers, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum 
to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn 
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel 
the attendance of absent members, in such manner, 



CONSTITUTION 125 

and under such penalties as each House may provide. 

Each House may determine the rules of its proceed- 
ings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, 
with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each House shall keep a journal of its proceed- 
ings, and from time to time publish the same, except- 
ing such parts as may in their judgment require se- 
crecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either 
House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth 
of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place than that in 
which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Sect. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall 
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascer- 
tained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the 
United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, 
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance at the session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from 
the same ; and for any speech or debate in either House, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil 
office under the authority of the United States, which 
shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof 
shall have been increased during such time; and no 
person holding any office under the United States, 
shall be a member of either House during his continu- 
ance in office. 



\ 



126 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Sect. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall origi- 
nate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate 
may propose or concur with amendments as on other 
bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it be- 
comes a law, be presented to the President of the 
United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not 
he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in 
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the ob- 
jections at large on their journal, and proceed to re- 
consider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds 
of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, 
by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- 
proved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become 
a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of 
the persons voting for and against the bill shall be 
entered on the journal of each House respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the President within 
ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been 
presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like man- 
ner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their 
adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall 
not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concur- 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may 
be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) 
shall be presented to the President of the United 
States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be 



CONSTITUTION ITt 

approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall 
be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, according to the rules and limitations 
prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sect. 8. The Congress shall have power — To lay 
and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay 
the debts and provide for the common defence and 
general welfare of the United States; but all duties, 
imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the 
United States. 

To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States. 

To reguiate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes. 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies through- 
out the United States. 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and meas- 
ures. 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting 
the securities and current coin of the United States. 

To establish post-offices and post-roads. 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, 
by securing for limited times to authors and inventors 
the exclusive right to their respective writings and 
discoveries. 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court. 

To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 



128 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law 
of nations. 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water. 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation 
of money to that use shall be for a longer term than 
two years. 

To provide and maintain a navy. 

To make rules for the government and regulation 
of the land and naval forces. 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and re- 
pel invasions. 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them 
as may be employed in the service of the United States, 
reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of 
the officers, and the authority of training the militia 
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases what- 
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles 
square) as may, by cession of particular States, and 
the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the 
government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, 
for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- 
yards, and other needful buildings; and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and 



CONSTITUTION 129 

all other powers vested by this Constitution in the gov- 
ernment of the United States, or in any department or 
officer thereof. 

Sect. 9. The migration or importation of such per- 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Con- 
gress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or in- 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be 
passed. 

[No capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration 
herein before directed to be taken.] 

(The clause within brackets was modified by the 16th amend- 
ment.) 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported 
from any State. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over 
those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, 
one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties 
in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but 
in consequence of appropriations made by law; and 
a regular statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 



130 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States; and no person holding any office of profit or 
trust under them shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or 
foreign state. 

Sect. io. No State shall enter into any treaty, alli- 
ance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and 
reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any- 
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant 
any title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in- 
spection laws: and the net produce of all duties and 
imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall 
be for the use of the treasury of the United States; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and 
control of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war 
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- 
pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such im- 
minent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section i. The executive power shall be vested 
in a President of the United States of America. He 



CONSTITUTION 131 

shall hold his office during the term of four years, 
and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the 
same term, be elected, as follows : — 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the 
legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, 
equal to the whole number of Senators and Repre- 
sentatives to which the State may be entitled in the 
Congress : but no Senator or Representative, or per- 
son holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

[The electors shall meet in their respective States, 
and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at 
least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State 
with themselves. And they shall make a list of all 
the persons voted for, and of the number of votes 
for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the 
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The 
person having the greatest number of votes shall be 
the President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if there be 
more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the House of Representa- 
tives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them 
for President ; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the five highest on the list the said House shall 
in like manner choose the President. But in choosing 
the President the votes shall be taken by States, the 



132 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

representation from each State having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two-thirds of the States, and a major- 
ity of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
In every case, after the choice of the President, the 
person having the greatest number of votes of the elec- 
tors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should 
remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate 
shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.] 
(The foregoing paragraph was superseded by the 12th amend- 
ment.) 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
the electors, and the day on which they shall give 
their votes; which day shall be the same throughout 
the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen 
of the United States at the time of the adoption of 
this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of Presi- 
dent; neither shall any person be eligible to that office 
who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five 
years; and been fourteen years a resident within the 
United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge 
the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall 
devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may 
by law provide for the case of removal, death, resig- 
nation, or inability, both of the President and Vice- 
President, declaring what officer shall then act as Presi- 
dent, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the 
disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 



CONSTITUTION 133 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services, a compensation, which shall neither be in- 
creased nor diminished during the period for which 
he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the 
United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he 
shall take the following oath or affirmation: — 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- 
fully execute the office of President of the United 
States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
States." 

Sect. 2. The President shall be Commander-in- 
Chief of the army and navy of the United States, and 
of the militia of the several States, when called into 
the actual service of the United States ; he may require 
the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each 
of the executive departments, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall 
have power to grant reprieves and pardons for of- 
fences against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two- 
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose ap- 
pointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 



134 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

which shall be established by law: but the Congress 
may by law vest the appointment of such inferior offi- 
cers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in 
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all va- 
cancies that may happen during the recess of the Sen- 
ate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the 
end of their next session. 

Sect. 3. He shall from time to time give to the 
Congress information of the state of the Union, and 
recommend to their consideration such measures as 
he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on 
extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or 
either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may 
adjourn them. to such time as he shall think proper; 
he shall receive ambassadors and other public minis- 
ters; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
cuted, and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States. 

Sect. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all 
civil officers of the United States, shall be removed 
from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, 
treason, bribery, or other high crimes 1 and misde- 
meanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section i. The judicial power of the United States 
shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such 
inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme 



CONSTITUTION 135 

and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good 
behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services, a compensation, which shall not be dimin- 
ished during their continuance in office. 

Sect. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all 
cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitu- 
tion, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under their authority ; — to all 
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls ; — to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction; — to controversies to which the United States 
shall be a party; — to controversies between two or 
more States; — [between a State and citizens of an- 
other State] ; — between citizens of different States ; — 
between citizens of the same State claiming lands un- 
der grants of different States [and between a State, 
or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or 
subjects]. 

(The clauses within brackets were repealed or modified by 
the nth amendment.) 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public min- 
isters and consuls, and those in which a State shall 
be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- 
diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the 
Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both 
as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under 
such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
ment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in 
the State where the said crimes shall have been com- 
mitted; but when not committed within any State, the 



136 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress 
may by law have directed. 

Sect. 3. Treason against the United States shall 
consist only in levying war against them, or in ad- 
hering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the pun- 
ishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall 
work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during 
the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section i. Full faith and credit shall be given in 
each State to the public acts, records, and judicial pro- 
ceedings of every other State. And the Congress may 
by general laws prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the 
effect thereof. 

Sect. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the sev- 
eral States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, 
or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be 
found in another State, shall, on demand of the execu- 
tive authority of the State from which he fled, be de- 
livered up to be removed to the State having jurisdic- 
tion of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State, 
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in 



CONSTITUTION 137 

consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- 
charged from such service or labor, but shall be de- 
livered up on claim of the party to whom such service 
or labor may be due. 

Sect. 3. New States may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed 
or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; 
nor any State be formed by the junction of two or 
more States, or parts of States, without the consent of 
the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
territory or other property belonging to the United 
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so 
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United 
States, or of any particular State. 

Sect. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a republican form of government, 
and shall protect each of them against invasion, and 
on application of the legislature, or of the executive 
(when the legislature cannot be convened) against do- 
mestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to 
this Constitution, or, on the application of the legisla- 
tures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a 
convention for proposing amendments, which, in either 
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part 



138 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures 
of three-fourths of the several States, or by conven- 
tions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress; 
provided that no amendment which may be made prior 
to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall 
in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in 
the ninth section of the first article; and that no State, 
without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suf- 
frage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, 
before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as 
valid against the United States under this Constitution, 
as under the confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the au- 
thority of the United States, shall be the supreme law 
of the land; and the judges in every State shall be 
bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of 
any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several State legislatures, and 
all executive and judicial officers, both of the United 
States and of the several States, shall be bound by 
oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but 
no religious test shall ever be required as a qualifica- 
tion to any office or public trust under the United 
States. 



CONSTITUTION 139 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, 
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Con- 
stitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the 
States present, the seventeenth day of September, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hun- 
dred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of 
the United States of America the twelfth. 
In witness whereof, we Jiave hereunto subscribed our 
names. 

George Washington, President, 

and deputy from Virginia. 

New Hampshire. — John Langdon, Nicholas Gil- 
man. 

Massachusetts. — Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 

Connecticut. — William Samuel Johnson, Roger 
Sherman. 

New York. — Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey. — William Livingston, David Brear- 
ley, j William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mif- 
flin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsi- 
mons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur 
Morris. 

Delaware. — George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. — James McHenry, Daniel of St. 
Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. 



140 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Virginia. — John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina. — William Blount, Richard Dobbs 
Spaight, Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina. — John Rutledge, Charles Cotes- 
worth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. — William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. 



ARTICLES 

in addition to, and amendment of, 

The Constitution of the United States of 

America. 

Proposed by Congress, and ratified by , the legislatures 
of the several States, pursuant to the fifth article 
of the original Constitution. 

Article I. — Congress shall make no law respect- 
ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peace- 
ably to assemble, and to petition the government for 
a redress of grievances. 

Art. II. A well regulated militia, being necessary 
to the security of a free State, the right of the people 
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

Art. III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
quartered in any house, without the consent of the 
owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be pre- 
scribed by law. 

Art. IV. The right of the people to be secure in 
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against un- 



CONSTITUTION 141 

reasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, 
and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly de- 
scribing the place to be searched, and the persons or 
things to be seized. 

Art. V. No person shall be held to answer for a 
capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a pre- 
sentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, 
when in actual sen/ice in time of war or public dan- 
ger; nor shall any person be subject for the same of- 
fence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor 
shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness 
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law; nor shall pri- 
vate property be taken for public use, without just 
compensation. 

Art. VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an 
impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall 
have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be 
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his 
defence. 

Art. VII. In suits at common law, where the value 
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of 
trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by 
a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of 



142 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the United States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

Art. VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, 
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual pun- 
ishments inflicted. 

Art. IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of 
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or dis- 
parage others retained by the people. 

Art. X. The powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to 
the people. 

Art. XL The judicial power of the United States 
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citi- 
zens or subjects of any foreign State. 

Art. XII. The electors shall meet in their respec- 
tive States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice- 
President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an in- 
habitant of the same State with themselves; they 
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for 
as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists 
of all persons voted for as President, and of all per- 
sons voted for as Vice-President, and of the numbers 
of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and cer- 
tify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the President of the 
Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in pres- 
ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open 



CONSTITUTION 143 

all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; 
— the person having the greatest number of votes for 
President, shall be the President, if such number be 
a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 
and if no person have such majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding 
three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immedi- 
ately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by States, the repre- 
sentation from each State having one vote; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all 
the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the 
House of Representatives shall not choose a President 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, 
before the fourth day of March next following, then 
the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the 
case of the death or other constitutional disability of 
the President. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed, and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate 
shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the pur- 
pose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be 
necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the of- 



144 HANDBOOK, OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

fice of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States. 

Art. XIII. Sect. i. Neither slavery nor involun- ' 
tary servitude, except as a punishment for crime 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

Art. XIV. Sect. i. All persons born or natural- 
ized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdic- 
tion thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make 
or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges 
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor 
/ shall any State deprive any person of life, li" 
property, without due process of law, nor deny 
person within its jurisdiction the equal protect^ 
\ the laws. 

Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned 
among the several States according to their respective 
numbers, counting the whole number of persons in 
each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when 
the right to vote at any election for the choice of 
electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu- 
tive and judicial officers of a State, or the members 
of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male 
inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years oi 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion or 



tates; nor 
liberty, or 
my to any 
)tection of 



CONSTITUTION 145 

other crime, the basis of representation therein shall 
be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Sect. 3. No person shall be a Senator, or Repre- 
sentative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice- 
President, or hold any office, civil or military, under 
the United States, or under any State, who, having 
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, 
or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial 
officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the 
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or 
rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort 
to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote 
of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the 
United States, authorized by law, including debts in- 
curred for payment of pensions and bounties for ser- 
vices in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not 
be questioned. 

But neither the United States, nor any State, shall 
assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid 
of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, 
or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any 
slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall 
be held illegal and void. 

Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, 
by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this ar- 
ticle. 

Art. XV. Sect i. The right of citizens of the 



146 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged 
by the United States, or by any State, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 

Art. XVI. The Congress shall have power to lay 
and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source 
derived, without apportionment among the several 
States, and without regard to any census or enumera- 
tion. 

Art. XVII. The Senate of the United States 
shall be composed of two Senators from each State, 
elected by the people thereof, for six years ; and each 
Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each 
State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors 
of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any 
State in the Senate, the executive authority of such 
State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies :. 
Provided, That the legislature of any State may em- 
power the executive thereof to make temporary ap- 
pointments until the people fill the vacancies by elec- 
tion as the legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to af- 
fect the election or term of any Senator chosen before 
it becomes valid as a part of the Constitution. 

Art. XVIII. Section i. After one year from 
the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, 
or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the 
importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof 
from the United States and all territory subject to the 



CONSTITUTION 147 

jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby 
prohibited. 

Sect. 2. The Congress and the several States shall 
have concurrent power to enforce this article by ap- 
propriate legislation. 

Sect. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it 
shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Con- 
stitution by the legislatures of the several States, as 
provided in the Constitution, within seven years from 
the date of the submission hereof to the States by the 
Congress. 

SEARCH LIGHT STUDIES. 

"We'll read, answer, and think upon this." 

— Shakespeare. 

i. Who were some of the prominent members of 
the Constitutional Convention? 

2. Who were the great leaders of the Federalist 
and Anti-Federalist parties? 

3. Why should Congress have exclusive authority 
over the seat of government? 

4. Are the Indians in this country citizens of the 
United States? 

5. Why should less than a quorum of either House 
of Congress have power to compel the attendance of 
absent members? 

6. How can they exercise this power? 

7. Why are officers of the United States govern- 
ment forbidden to accept presents from foreign gov- 
ernments ? 



148 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

8. Have such presents, sent to public officers, ever 
been retained by our government? 

9. A distinguished writer has said: "The Ameri- 
can citizen has two loyalties and two patriotisms." 
Explain this expression. 

10. What now constitutes legal tender in the 
United States ? 

11. Why is the United States government often 
called a government of "delegated powers"? Why a 
government of "limited powers"? 

12. What feature of our governmental system 
cannot be changed by a Constitutional amendment? 

13. On what principle does an amendment, which 
has been ratified by three-fourths of the States, bind a 
State which has not ratified it? 

14. Can a Chinese or a Japanese be naturalized? 

15. Why should a two-thirds rather than a major- 
ity vote be required to expel a member of Congress? 

16. Can an officer escape impeachment by resigning 
his office? 

17. What is the reason for the provision that Con- 
gress shall meet yearly? 

18. Who is responsible for the character of legisla- 
tion? 

19. Ought a Representative to vote as a majority 
of his constituents desire, or in accordance with his 
own convictions ? 

20. Would a Senator or a Representative lose his 
seat by removing from the State for or in which he 
was elected? 

21. When may the Houses of Congress be said 



SEARCH LIGHT STUDIES 149 

to be acting as judicial rather than as legislative 
bodies? 

22. Has any person ever been convicted of treason 
against the United States ? 

23. Who was tried on that charge and acquitted? 

24. Has a resident of the city of Washington the 
right to vote in a Presidential election ? 

25. The circumstances of the admission of West 
Virginia into the Union as a State were peculiar. Can 
you state them ? 

26. Are children citizens as well as men and wo- 
men? 

27. Why is "President" an appropriate title for the 
highest officer of our government? 

28. Is it proper to refer to the officers of the gov- 
ernment as "our rulers"? 

29. Give an instance of the exercise of the veto 
power. Of the "pocket veto." 

30. Has Congress the power in any case to dimin- 
ish the salaries of the Justices of the Supreme Court? 

31. What is meant by the term "to declare war"? 

32. Can a person be a citizen of a State without 
being a citizen of the United States? 

33. [Which of the powers of Congress includes the 
power of acquiring territory, either by conquest or by 
treaty ? 

34. What Vice-President was elected by the Sen- 
ate? 

35. One of the duties of the President is to receive 
ambassadors. Who may reject or dismiss them? 

36. Why is it provided that the salary of the Presi- 



150 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

dent shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
his term of office? 

37. Who may legally suspend the writ of habeas 
corpus ? 

38. By whom has that writ been suspended ? 

39. Why should each State be allowed a number of 
Presidential electors equal to the whole number of 
Senators and Representatives to which it is entitled 
in Congress? 

40. Can a person who is not twenty-live years of 
age be legally elected to the House of Representatives ? 

41. Can either House punish those who are not its 
members ? 

42. What conditions does the Constitution assume 
to be necessary to the privilege of voting? 

43. Can a State give the privilege of voting, at 
all elections, to women? 

44. Can a person who is not a citizen of the United 
States have the privilege of voting? 

45. Do all citizens have the right of voting? 

46. Can a State nullify the laws of the United 
States? 

47. Are taxes on the rents or income of real estate 
direct or indirect taxes? 

48. State two ways in which Congress can borrow 
money. 

49. How can Congress regulate the value of for- 
eign coin ? 

50. In what three emergencies has the President 
called the militia of certain States into active service? 



SEARCH LIGHT STUDIES 151 

51. What was the last State to enter the Union, 
and what was the date of its admission? 

52. Name an Act of Congress which the Supreme 
Court has declared unconstitutional. 

53. Has Congress power to prohibit commerce 
with a foreign nation? 

54. In what way does the District of Columbia 
resemble a Territory ? How does it differ from a Ter- 
ritory ? 

55. Art. I., Sec. 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution 
relates to incidental or implied powers of Congress. 
Name some of these powers that have been exercised. 

56. What parties have favored giving the National 
government as much power as possible under this 
clause? What parties have been inclined to give little 
power under it? 

57. Was the prohibition of the foreign slave-trade 
by Congress the exercise of an express or an implied 
power? 

58. Why is the term of office of the President often 
called his "administration" ? 

59. What is the meaning of the terms "broad con- 
struction" and "strict construction" in connection with 
the Constitution? 

60. How may a joint resolution of Congress be 
distinguished from a concurrent resolution? Give an 
example of each. 

61. iWhat places outside the boundaries of the 
United States are subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States? 

62. Give the names of the following officers and 



152 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tell of what State each is a citizen: President, Vice- 
President, President pro tempore of the Senate, 
Speaker, Chief Justice. 

63. What is the purpose of Article I., Section 6, 
Clause 2 of the Constitution? 

64. How do the rights of aliens (subjects of a for- 
eign government), dwelling in this country, differ from 
those of a naturalized citizen? 

65. Who are the United States Senators from this 
State? Who is the Representative of this district in 
Congress? The Judge of the United States Court of 
this judicial district? The Postmaster of this place? 
Name some other United States officer in this vicinity. 

66. Which Presidents were re-elected? Which 
served two terms? Which died in office? Who suc- 
ceeded each of them in the Presidential office? What 
Presidents passed from the office of Secretary of State 
to that of President? 

67. Describe the great seal of the United States. 
For what purpose is it used ? 

68. Repeat from memory the preamble to the 
Constitution, the first amendment, and the first section 
each of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amend- 
ments. 

69. Name the authors of the following quotations : 
(a) "I believe this to be the strongest government 

on earth. I believe it to be the only one where every 
man at the call of the law would fly to the standard 
of the law and would meet invasions of the public 
order as his own concern.'* 



SEARCH LIGHT STUDIES 153 

(b) "We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last 
best hope of earth." 

(c) "That which contributes most to preserve the 
State is to educate children with reference to the State; 
for the most useful laws, and most approved by every 
statesman, will be of no service if the citizens are not 
accustomed to and brought up in the principles of the 
Constitution." 

(d) "It was the purpose of our fathers to lodge 
absolute power nowhere; to leave each department in- 
dependent within its own sphere; yet, in every case, 
responsible for the exercise of its discretion." 

(e) "Each generation in our history needs to be 
taught what the Constitution is, and what the framers 
of it understood it to be at its formation." 

(/) "The Constitution has been found sufficient in 
the past; and in all the future years it will be found 
sufficient if the American people are true to their sacred 
trust." 

(g) "If a State, 'one of the many/ claims to be 
above the whole, and usurps such power, the Nation 
must suppress it, first by judicial process, and if that 
be not sufficient, then by force." 

(h) "The government of the United States is justly 
deemed the guardian of our best rights, the source of 
our highest civil and political duties, and the sure 
means of our national greatness." 

(i) "The American Constitution is the most won- 
derful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain 
and purpose of man." 



154 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

(/) "An instructed democracy is the surest founda- 
tion of government." 

(k) "Within their own limits they (the States) are 
the guardians of industry, of property, of personal 
rights, and of liberty. But State rights are to be de- 
fended inside of the Union; not from an outside citadel 
from which the Union may be struck at or defied." 

(/) "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and 
inseparable." 

(w) "If any one attempts to haul down the Amer- 
ican flag, shoot him on the spot." 

70. What did George Washington, President of 
the Constitutional Convention, say that the members 
of that body kept steadily in view in all their delibera- 
tions ? 



THE FLAG. 

The origin of the design of our flag is not definitely 
known, but it is believed that the stars and stripes on 
Washington's coat of arms suggested the propriety of 
combining the same on the national ensign. On the 
fourteenth of June, 1777, the American Congress re- 
solved, "That the flag of the thirteen United States be 
thirteen stripes alternate red and white ; that the union 
be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a 
new constellation." In 1795, after the admission of 
two new States, the design was changed to fifteen 
stripes and fifteen stars. When other States were ad- 
mitted it was evident that the plan of adding a stripe 
and a star for each additional State could not be fol- 
lowed. Congress, therefore, in April, 18 18, decided 
that the number of stripes should be reduced to the 
original thirteen, and that for each new State admitted 
to the Union, one star should be added to the union of 
the flag on the fourth of July next succeeding such 
admission. 

Thus the flag is a symbol at once of the origin of 
the Nation and of its present greatness and glory. 



155 



BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR READING AND 
REFERENCE. 

"American Statesmen Series." (A collection of short 
biographies of the most eminent American states- 
men of the early and middle period.) 

"History of the Formation of the Constitution," 
George Bancroft. 

"The Framing of the Constitution," Max Farrand. 

"Commentaries on the Constitution," Joseph Story. 

"The American Commonwealth," James (Viscount) 
Bryce. 

"American Political Ideas," "Civil Government in the 
United States," and "The Critical Period of Amer- 
ican History," John Fiske. 

"History of American Politics," Alexander Johnston. 

"Our Chief Magistrate," William Howard Taft. 

"Autobiography," Theodore Roosevelt. 

"Popular Government," Sir Henry Sumner Maine. 

"The Federalist," Alexander Hamilton and James 
Madison. 

"Congressional Government," Woodrow Wilson. 

"The People's Government," and "Americanism: 
What It Is," David Jayne Hill. 

"Fundamental Law of American Constitutions," 
Fred A. Baker. 

"Civil Liberty and Self Government," Francis Lieber. 

"The Democracy of the Constitution," Henry Cabot 
Lodge. 

156 



INDEX 

The references are to the numbered sections of the 
book. 



Accounts, of government to be pub- 
lished, 109 
Acts, public, recognition of, 156 
Adjournment of Congress, 70 

By President, 71 

Restrictions on, 72 
Admiralty jurisdiction, 151 
Admission of new States, 159 
Agreements between States, 11 1 
Agriculture, Department of, 136 
Albany Convention, 13 
Alliances, States not to enter into, 

in 
Ambassadors: 

Appointment of, 139 

Foreign, reception of, 143 
Amendment of Constitution, 165 

Amendments denned, 171 

Number adopted, 171 

Considered in detail, 172-209 
American citizens, rights of, 210 

Duties of, 212 
American democracy, spirit of, 211 
Appointments to office, 139 
Apportionment of Representatives, 
35 

Ratio of representation, 37 

Each State entitled to representa- 
tion, 38 

Territorial representation, 40 
Appropriations, 109 

Annual appropriation bills, 109 

Book of Estimates, 109 
Aristocracy, defined, 5 
Arms, right to keep and bear, 176 
Army, 100 
Arrest, privilege of members of 

Congress against, 79 
Arsenals, 102 
Articles of Confederation, 18 

Defects and failure of, 19 
Articles of War, 100 
Assembling of Congress, 66 
Assembly, freedom of, 175 
Attainder, bills of, 106 
Attendance of witnesses, compel- 
ling, 188 
Attorney General, 136 



Bail, excessive, 192 
Bankruptcy laws, 92 
Banks, national, 88 

Federal Reserve, 88 
Bill, defined, 81 

How may become a law, 83 

Veto of, 84 

Revenue, 82 
Bills, annual appropriation, 109 
Bill of attainder, 106 
Bill of credit, 112 
Bill of Rights, 172 
Bonds, government, 87 
Borrow money, power of Congress 

to, 87 
Breach of the peace, 79 
Bribery, 145 
Bureau of Standards, 94 

Cabinet : 

Composition of, 135 

Heads of executive departments, 
136 

Number of, and designations, 
136 

Powers and duties, 136 

Salaries, 135 
Cabinet ministers, 136 

Presidential succession, 132 
Capital crime, 179 
Capitation tax, 86 
Census, 39 

Charter governments, 10 
Checks and balances, 26 
Chief Justice of Supreme Court, 
148 

Presiding at impeachment trial, 
58 
China, United States Court for, 149 
Circuit Courts, 149 
Circuit Courts of Appeals, 149 
Citizen, obligation of the, 4 
Citizens: 

American, rights of, 210 

Duties of, 212 

Rights in other States, 157 
Citizenship, rights of, under 14th 
Amendment, 201 



157 



158 



INDEX 



Civil officers, removal of, 145 
Civil Service Commission, 139 
Coin money, power to, 93 

States may not, 112 
Colonies, original, 9 

First union of, 12 

Forms of government of, 10 
Commander in Chief, President as, 

134 
Commerce, power of Congress to 

regulate, 89 
Commerce Court, 149 
Commerce, Department of, 136 
Committees of Congress, 56 

Conference committee, 56 

Committee of the Whole, 56 

Standing committees, 56 
Common law, meaning of, 190 
Compacts between States, 1 1 1 
Compensation, just, for private 

property taken, 183 
Compulsory process for witnesses, 

188 
Concurrent resolutions, 85 
Confederation, Articles of, 18 

Defects and failure of, 19 
Confederations, States not to enter 

into, in 
Conference committees, 56 
Congress: 

Adjournment, 70 

Adjournment by President, 142 

Assembling, 66 

Attendance, 69 

Compensation, 78 

Composition of, 28 

Continental, First, 15 

Continental, Second, 16 

Division, 28 

Elections, 64 

End of, 67 

Exclusive legislation, 102 

Extra sessions, 67, 141 

First, 41 

General powers, 27, 104 

Journals, 75 

Members, 78-80 

Membership, 68 

Orders, 85 

Powers, 86-104 

Privilege of members, 79 

Quorum, 69 

Sessions, 67 

Stamp Act Congress, 14 
Conscience, freedom of, 173 
Constitution: 

Authority of, 24 

Defined, 20 

Establishment, 21 

Formation, 21 

Mode of amendment, 165 

Oath to support, 168 

Preamble, 23 

Purposes, 24 

Ratification, 21, 170 

Supremacy of, 167 

Text of, see Appendix 



Constitutional Convention, 21 
Consular Courts, 149 
Consuls, 139 
Continental Congress, First, 15 

Second, 16 
Contracts, impairing obligation of, 
_ "3 
Convention, Albany, 13 

Constitutional, 21 
Copyrights, 96 
Counsel, right to have, 189 
Counterfeiting, 104 
Court of Claims, 149 
Court of Customs Appeals, 149 
Court of Private Land Claims, 149 
Courts: 

Inferior federal courts, 149 

Jurisdiction, 151 

Power and duty of, 147 

Supreme Court, 148 
Courts Martial, 100 
Crime, capital or infamous, 179 
Crimes against United States, 104 
Criminal law of United States, 104 
Criminal trials: 

Rights of accused persons, 184- 
189 

Trial by jury, 152 
Criminals, extradition of, 158 
Cruel and unusual punishments, 194 
Customs Appeals, Court of, 149 
Customs duties, 86 

Debate, privilege of, in Congress, 

79 
Debt, public, 87 

Guarantied, 166, 205 
Declaration of Independence, 16 

Text of, see Appendix 
Democracy: 

American, spirit of, 211 

Defined, 5 

Representative, 5 
Department: 

Executive, 26 

Judicial, 26, 146 

Legislative, 26 

of Agriculture, 136 

of Commerce, 136 

of Interior, 136 

of Justice, 136 

of Labor, 136 

of Navy, 136 

of Post Office, 136 

of State, 136 

of Treasury, 136 

of War, 136 
Departments, executive, 136 
Departments of government, 26 
Diplomatic officers, 139 
Direct taxes. 86 

Under 16th Amendment, 207 
District of Columbia, 103 

Court of Appeals of, 149 

Supreme Court of, 149 
District Courts of United Stat.s. 
149 



INDEX 



159 



Dock yards, 102 
Domain, eminent, 183 
Due process of law, 182 
Duties of American citizens, 212 
Duties on exports, 107 
Duties on imports, 86 
Duties, States not to lay, 114 
Dwelling, security of the, 178 

Eighteenth Amendment, 209 
Eighth Amendment, 192 
Election, Congressional, 64, 65 

Contested, 68 

Representatives, 30 

Senators, 46 
Election of President, 125 

By House of Representatives, 127 

Under Twelfth Amendment, 198 
Electoral College, _ 120 
Electoral Commission, 130 
Electoral Count Act, 131 
Electors, Presidential, 119 

Electoral College, 120 

Qualifications of, 121 

When chosen, 122 

Election of President by, 125 
Eleventh Amendment, 197 
Eminent domain, right of, 183 
Equal protection of the laws, 203 
Ex post facto laws forbidden, 106 
Excises, defined, 86 
Execution of the laws, 144 
Executive department, 26 
Executive Departments, 136 
Executive power, 116 
Expenditures of government, 109 
Export duties, 107 
Exports, States not to tax, 114 
Expulsion of members of Congress, 

74 
Extra sessions, 67 
Extradition, interstate, 158 

Federal courts, 148-15 x 
Federal Reserve Banks, 88 
Federal Trade Commission, 89 
Felony, defined, 79 
Fifteenth Amendment, 199 
Fifth Amendment, 179 
Filibustering, 77 
Fines, excessive, 193 
First Amendment, 173 
First Congress, 41 

Continental Congress, 15 

Union of colonies, 12 
Food and Drugs Act, 89 
Foreign commerce, regulation of, 89 
Form of government, 5 

Republican, guarantied, 163 
Forts, 102 

Fourteenth Amendment, 199, 201-206 
Fourth Amendment, 178 
Freedom : 

From quartering of soldiers, 177 

From unreasonable search and 
seizure, 178 

Of assembly and petition, 175 



Freedom: 

Of religion, 173 

Of speech and press, 174 

To keep and bear arms, 176 

Fugitive criminals, 158 

General powers of Congress, 104 
Government: 

Colonial, forms of, 10 

Departments of, 26 

During the Revolution, 17 

Forms of, 5 

National, 2 

Of the United States, 6 

Purpose of, 3 

Republican form of, 5 

Republican, guarantied, 163 

Under the Constitution, 23 
Government buildings, 102 
Grand jury, 179 

Habeas corpus, 105 
Heads of departments, 136 
High crimes and misdemeanors, 145 
High seas, meaning of, 97 
House of Representatives, 30-40 
Election of President by, 127 
Impeachment proceedings by, 57 
Originate revenue bills, 82 

Immigration laws, 89 

Impairing obligation of contracts, 
113 

Impeachment, 57-62 

Implied powers of Congress, 104 

Imports, States not to tax, 114 

Imposts, defined, 86 

Inauguration of President, 133 

Income tax, 207 

Independence, Declaration of, 16 
Text of, see Appendix 

Indictment, 179 
Right to see, 186 

Infamous crimes, 179 

Inferior federal courts, 149 

Inspection laws, 114 

Insurrection, protection of States 
against, 164 

Interior, Department of the, 136 

Internal revenue taxes, 86 

International law, meaning of, 97 

Interstate commerce, regulation of, 
89 
Interstate Commerce Act, 89 
Interstate Commerce Commission, 

89 
Federal Trade Commission, 89 
Restrictions on regulation of, 108 

Interstate Commerce Act, 89 

Interstate Commerce Commission. 



Interstate navigation, 108 
Invasion, protection of 

against, 164 
Inventions, patents for, 96 
Involuntary servitude, 200 



States 



160 



INDEX 



Jeopardy of life or limb, 180 
Joint resolutions, 85 
Journals of Congress, 75 
Judges: 

Of inferior federal courts, 149 

Of Supreme Court, 148 

Powers and duties of, 147 

Term of office and salaries, 150 
Judicial Department, 26 
Judicial proceedings, recognition in 

other States, 156 
Judicial power, 146 
Judiciary, duty of, 147 
Jurisdiction of federal courts, 151 
Jury Trial: 

In civil cases, 190 

In criminal cases, 152 

Province of judge and jury, 191 
Just compensation for property 

taken, 183 
Justice, Department of, 136 

Labor, Department of, 136 
Land and naval forces, 100 
Law, due process of, 182 
Law of nations, meaning of, 97 
Law, supreme, Constitution as, 167 
Laws, equal protection of the, 203 
Laws, execution of the, 144 
Legal tender, 112 
Legislative department, 26 

Powers of, 27 
Legislative powers, 27 
Letters of marque, 99 
Liberty, protection of, by due proc- 
ess of law, 182 
Liberty Loans, 87 

Mails, inviolability of, 178 

Maritime cases, 151 

Marque, letters of, 99 

Measures and weights, standard of, 
94 

Message, President's, 140 

Militia, 10 1 

Ministers, Public: 
Appointment of, 139 
Foreign, reception of, 143 

Mints of United States, 93 

Monarchy, denned, 5 
Absolute or limited, 5 

Money: 

Currency, the, 93 

Power of Congress to borrow, 87 

Power to coin, 93 

Public, how expended, 109 

States may not coin, 112 

Monopolies, laws against, 89 

Nation, defined, 1 

Origin of, 8 
National banks, 88 
National debt, 87 
National government, defined, 2 

Forms of, 5 
National Guard, 101 
Naturalization, 90, 91 



Navigation and shipping laws, 89 

Restrictions on scope of, 108 
Navy, 100 

Navy Department, 136 
New States, admission of, 159 
Ninth Amendment, 195 
Nobility, titles of, forbidden, no 

Oath: 

No religious test, 169 

Of allegiance, 91 

Of President, 133 

To support the Constitution, 168 
Obligation of contracts, 113 
Obligation of the citizen, 4 
Office, appointments to, 139 

Removal from, 145 
Orders of Congress, 85 
Overt act, 154 

Pairing, 73 

Paper money, 112 

Pardons, 137 

Patents, 96 

Pensions, 205 

People, the, as source of authority, 

24 
Petition, right of, 175 
Piracy, definition and punishment 

of, 97 
Ports of States, 108 
Postmaster General, 136 
Post Office Department, 136 
Post offices and post roads, 95 
Powers, reserved by States or peo- 
ple, 196 
Preamble of Constitution, 23 
Presentment, 179 
President of the United State9: 

Adjourning Congress, 71 

Appointments by, 139 

As commander in chief, 98, 134 

Cabinet of, 135 

Calling special sessions, 67, 141 

Commander in chief. 134 

Diplomatic powers of, 143 

Duties, execution of the laws, 144 

Election of, 125, 198 

Election of, by House, 127 

Executive power of, 1 16 

Inauguration, 133 

Messages, 140 

Pardoning power, 137 

Qualifications. 123 

Removal from office, 145 

Salary, 118 

Succession to office of, 132 

Term of office, 117 

Treaty-making power, 138 

Vacancy in office of, 132 

Veto power of, 83, 84 
President of the Senate, 53 

President pro tempore, 54 
Presidential electors, 119-122 
Press, freedom of the, 174 
Privateers, 99 



INDEX 



161 



Privilege of members of Congress, 

79 
Privileges and immunities of citi- 
zens, 157 
Process of law, due, 182 
Prohibition, national, 209 
Property, protection of, by due 

process of law, 182 

Private, taking for public use, 183 
Protection of the laws, equal, 203 
Public Acts of States, recognition 

of, 156 
Public and speedy trial, 184 
Public debt guarantied, 166, 205 
Public use, taking private property 

for, 183 
Punishment: 

Cruel and unusual, 194 

Of treason, 155 
Pure food laws, 89 

Qualifications : 

Members of Congress, how 
judged, 68 

No religious test, 169 

President, 123 

Representative, 34 

Senator, 51 

Vice-President, 124 
Quarantine laws, 89 
Quartering of soldiers, 177 
Quorum, in Congress, 69 

Railroads, regulation of, 89 
Ratification : 

Of Amendments, 165 

Of Constitution, by States, 21, 
170 
Receipts and expenditures of gov- 
ernment, 109 
Records, public, recognition of, 156 
Regulation of commerce, 89 
Religion, freedom of, 173 
Religious tests, 169 
Removal from office, 145 

Of member of Congress, 74 

On impeachment, 60 
Representatives: 

Apportionment, 35 

At large, 31 

Election, 30 

Number, 37 

Qualifications, 34, 68 

Removal, 74 

Salary, 33 

Term of office, 32 

Vacancies, 42 
Representatives, House of, 30-35 

Election of President by, 127 
Reprieves, 137 
Republic, United States a, 6 
Republican : 

Form of government, 5, 163 

How preserved, 7 
Resolutions of Congress, 85 

Joint and concurrent, 85 



Returns: 

Of congressional elections, 68 
Of presidential elections, 125 

Revenue bills, originate in House, 
82 

Revenues, government, how ex- 
pended, 109 

Revolution, government during the, 
17 

Rights, Bill of, 172 

Rights of American citizens, 210 

Rights reserved by the people, 195 

Salary: 

Inferior federal judges, 149, 150 

Justices of Supreme Court, 148, 
150 

Members of cabinet, 135 

President, 118 

Representatives, 33 

Senators, 48 

Speaker of the House, 44 

Vice-President, 124 
Search warrants, 178 
Searches, unreasonable, 178 
Second Amendment, 176 
Second Continental Congress, 16 
Secretary: 

of Agriculture, 136 

of Commerce, 136 

of the Interior, 136 

of Labor, 136 

of the Navy, 136 

of State, 136 

of the Treasury, 136 

of War, 136 
Seizures, unreasonable, 178 
Self -crimination, privilege against, 

181 
Senate : 

Committees of, 56 

Composition of, 45 

Confirming appointments, 139 

Election of, 46 

Election of Vice-President by, 
128 

Number of members, 52 

Powers as to treaties, 138 

President of, 53 

President pro tempore, 54 

Terms of office, 47, 49 

Trial of impeachments by, 57-62 

Vacancies in, 50 
Senators: 

Classification, 49 

Election, 46 

Number of, 45, 52 

Popular election of, 208 

Qualifications, 51 

Salary, 48 

Term of office, 47 

Vacancies, 50 
Separation of powers, 26 
Servitude, involuntary, 200 
Sessions of Congress, 67 

Adjournment by President, 142 

Special or extra, 67, 141 



162 



INDEX 



Seventeenth Amendment, 208 
Seventh Amendment, 190 
Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 89 
Sixteenth Amendment, 207 

Effect of, 86 
Sixth Amendment, 184 
Slavery, abolition of, 200 
Soldiers, quartering of, 177 
Speaker of the House, 44 
Speech, freedom of, 174 
Speedy and public trial, 184 
Stamp Act Congress, 14 
Standard of weights and measures, 
94 
Bureau of Standards, 94 
Standing committees, 56 
State Department, 136 
States: 

Admission of new, 159 
Cannot secede, 160 
Formation of new, 161 
Interstate duties and obligations, 

156-158 
Powers denied to the, 111-115 
Protection by federal forces, 164 
Ratification of Constitution by, 

21, 170 
Republican form of government, 

163 
Suits against, when forbidden, 
197 
Statutes, meaning of term, 81 
Succession, Presidential, 132 
Suffrage, right of, under 15th 

Amendment, 206 
Suit against State, when forbidden, 

197 
Support the Constitution, oath to, 

168 
Supreme Court of United States, 

148 
Supreme law, Constitution as the, 167 

Tariff acts, 89 

United States Tariff Commission, 
89 
Taxation : 

And representation, 36 

Federal, kinds of, 86 

Power of Congress over, 86 
Taxes: 

Defined, 86 

Federal, kinds of, 86 

Limitations as to, 86 

Power of Congress to levy, 86 
Tender, legal, 112 
Tenth Amendment, 196 
Term of office: 

President, 117 

Representatives, 32 

Senators, 47 

United States judges, 150 

Vice-President, 124 
Territories: 

Admission as States, 159 

Government of, 162 

Representation in Congress, 40 



Third Amendment, 177 
Thirteenth Amendment, 199, 200 
Titles of nobility forbidden, no 
Trade marks, 96 
Treason : 

Definition of, 79, 153 

Misprision of, 153 

Punishment of, 155 

Requisites to conviction, 154 
Treasury Department, 136 
Treaties: 

Compacts between States, in 

Negotiation and making of, 138 

States not to enter into, 1 1 1 
Trial by jury: 

In civil cases, 190 

In criminal cases, 152 

Province of judge and jury, 191 
Trial, speedy and public, right to, 

184 
Trusts and monopolies, laws against, 

89 
Twelfth Amendment, 198 
Twice in jeopardy, 180 

United States, form of govern- 
ment of, 6 
United States Courts, 148-151 
United State-s Shipping Board, 89 
United States Tariff Commission, 89 

Vacancies: 

In House of Representatives, 42 

In Presidency, 132 

In the Senate, 50 

Power to fill, 43 
Vessels employed in interstate navi- 
gation, 108 
Veto, presidential, 83, 84 
Vice-President: 

As President of Senate, 53 

Election by Senate, 128 

Election under 12th Amendment, 
198 

Qualifications, term, salary, 124 
Votes of Congress, submission to 
President, 85 



War: 

Articles of, 100 
Power to declare, 98 
Power to prosecute, 98 
States not to engage in, 115 
War Department, 136 
Weights and measures, standard of, 

94 
Witness against himself, 181 
Witnesses: 

Right to compel attendance of, 

188 
Right to be confronted with, 
187 



Yeas and nays, 76 



